


Resident Evil - Immortal Survival

by Razial



Category: Biohazard | Resident Evil (Gameverse), Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Highlander - All Media Types
Genre: Action/Adventure, Adult Content, Drama, F/M, Romance, Sexual Tension
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-09
Updated: 2017-03-09
Packaged: 2018-10-01 15:44:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 67,856
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10193267
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Razial/pseuds/Razial
Summary: Xander and Jenny's lives are turned upside down and things only get worse from there for the pair, however the challenges they face change them for the better and allow them to meet other people involved in a desperate fight.





	

Resident Evil - Immortal Survival

Author: David Mycock  
Beta: Hawklan

Disclaimer: I do not own Alexander Harris or any of the other characters from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, they belong to Joss Whedon, nor do I own any of the characters from the Resident Evil series they belong to Capcom and S.D Perry. I also do not own Highlander or any of the characters from the show or films; they belong to whoever created them and Panzer/Davis.

Pairing: Xander/Jenny/Jill/Rebecca

Summary: Xander and Jenny's lives are turned upside down and things only get worse from there for the pair, however the challenges they face change them for the better and allow them to meet other people involved in a desperate fight.

 

A big thank you to cloudleonsgurl for her fanart. You can find this one and other great ones here:  
http://www.tthfanfic.org/Story-24255-203/cloudleonsgurl+The+Worlds+She+Never+Walked.htm

 

+++

Chapter 1

(Rockville, Indiana)

 

Xander shook his head as the chaos continued to consume the city, by his side stood Jenny looking horrified, as zombies brought down two victims across the street and began to tear into their flesh. She looked away as blood and guts began to show. He could not believe they had walked into this mess. At their side also stood their teachers Connor McLeod and Methos, they looked angry and somewhat confused as to what caused this mess and he could understand that feeling. How the hell had an entire city been consumed like this?

 

So many things had changed he thought, as they ran into a nearby empty shop so that they could gather their bearings and make a plan. They had only come to the city for the night and had been looking for a hotel when suddenly zombies had come out of nowhere and started to attack the people. It was a nightmare one of many Jenny and he seemed to keep getting involved in.

 

"I don't suppose you have any ideas Connor?" Jenny inquired, looking out the window and shivered.

 

"We have to get out of this city as fast as we can, before we get killed," Connor replied. "Immortal or not I do not want to find out if we can recover from whatever is causing this, plus the way these zombies are eating people it's possible they could take our heads off in their feeding frenzy," he continued with a shake of his head.

 

"I agree McLeod, we are actually vulnerable here," Methos stated, joining Jenny at the window. "Whatever this is, it is something we are going to have to face, so we move fast and we keep together. Is that understood Alexander?" he said, turning to the youngest of their group. "No running of to save anyone, unless one of us goes with you?" he asked.

 

"I'll try," was all Xander would say, as he knew if he saw someone he could save he would try, it was just his nature.

 

In fact that was how all of this had begun in the first place. It was that nature that led him to his first death, alongside Jenny back in Sunnydale seven months ago. He leaned against the wall and closed his eyes, as the memories came upon him. The others noted his distraction and left him to his memories, knowing it was best to let them come, so that he was not distracted later.

 

Jenny paused, only to give him a worried look, knowing exactly what he was thinking about before joining them.

 

+++

 

(Flashback, Sunnydale High School)

 

Xander Harris walked into the library expecting the gang to be researching information on Angelus. Instead what he found was disturbing: Buffy, Willow and Giles were ganging up on Jenny Calendar for what they continued to believe was her betrayal of them all. He growled low in his throat the idea was stupid, as all Jenny had done was stay true to the will of her people and try and ensure Angelus stayed cursed. She had failed because Buffy and Angel had refused to heed any warning. Their union was a complete farce and to disgusting to even thing about. He still did not understand how Buffy, the supposed Slayer or anyone else for that matter could believe they were in love with a vampire, which was nothing more than a corpse.

 

Worse still in his mind the problem with Angelus should have already been dealt with at the mall, when they defeated the judge, but no Buffy had allowed one of the most dangerous vampires in existence to escape his judgment, so that he could kill again and again. This action had destroyed any lingering feelings he had for the blond as well as begun to burn away at their friendship as well. Oz and Cordelia stood to one side watching, but neither willing to get involved in the argument. He was pleased to see Jenny seemed to be holding her own at the moment. He stood watching for a minute before his anger, at what he classed as a travesty, finally erupted and he stormed over to stand by Jenny and glared at the people yelling at her.

 

Jenny was surprised when Xander joined her side and began to glare at his friends. The look on his face told her clearly he was not happy with the way Buffy and the crew were treating her. She had always got on with Xander, even joking with him after the love spell episode and giving him the odd tease. She loved doing that as Xander's reaction was delightful and flattering all at the same time.

 

Buffy and Willow were shocked at their friend's actions and exchanged unsure looks, before turning and glaring back at him, angered by his choice of standing by the traitor.

 

Giles removed his glasses and began to get a bad feeling how this argument would play out. He knew he was been foolish in allowing Buffy to avoid killing Angelus at the moment, but he just did not have it in himself to order her to do it, knowing it would only bring her heartache. He was also very sure she would refuse any such order no matter who it came from. So what was the point, was his conclusion and it would also cause tension between them, which is something they did not need right now.

 

"Enough," Xander spat. "You are completely out of line Buffy and don't even get me started on you Willow or you Giles," he added his gaze intensifying. "Jenny did what she was brought up to do. Follow the will of her people, you seem to have forgotten Angelus was cursed so he would be eternally punished," he continued. "He was not cursed so you would have a boyfriend in the future. Your union is against all laws of nature and before you say a word that is not jealously talking," he pressed, making sure to override whatever Buffy was about to say. "Any feelings what so ever I had left for you, died the minute you allowed Angelus to walk away from the mall alive, so that he could kill again, encase it has escaped your notice our friendship is also suffering because of your choice," he pointed out with narrowed eyes.

 

"I was not ready to kill him, I love him," Buffy shot back, as he took a breath. "You unfeeling bastard," she added.

 

"Unfeeling? Do I need to remind you that you have only known Angel for a year and a half and I killed my best friend who I knew all my life to save Cordelia, when we learned about the truth about your world?" he reminded her, filled with even more anger and hate. "He was almost like a brother to me and I did not hesitate to kill what he had become. It killed me inside, but I knew it had to be done and you did not have to explain to his parents and sister what had happened to him," he growled out. "So don't you dare call me unfeeling Buffy, ever, but you have a duty, even more than the rest of us to safeguard the innocent, as you are the Slayer and now every death he commits is on your head," he stated.

 

Buffy and Willow stared at Xander in shock at his verbal attack. Willow winced at the reminder of Jessie. If she was honest with herself she had not thought of him in a year, finding it easier to forget those times. His death still hurt, but she did not agree with Xander's assessment of the situation now. Giles polished his glasses and shook his head, at what he saw as Xander's foolish attempt at guilt tripping Buffy into action. He sighed, seeing no good coming of this.

 

"I think you are not fully appreciated of the state Buffy has been in, since Angelus has returned Xander. What kind of mind set she has been in and your sad attempt at a guilt trip is not helping matters," he spoke up, drawing the angry gaze of Xander and Jenny. "Miss Calendar could have prevented all this by telling us the truth," he stated in total belief.

 

"Like you came clean about your past as Ripper, Rupert?" Jenny shot back. Angered by the stupidity of her former boyfriend, unable to believe how he was acting and that he was backing up his Slayer's foolish actions. "I was trained from birth to obey the will of the tribe and I was ordered to ensure the curse on Angelus held, however I did not know what would break it, until my uncle visited and informed me of the fact," she continued. "He was then murdered by Angelus, adding one more crime to his list of crimes against my people," she reminded them.

 

Like we are meant to believe you now, after all the lies," Buffy shot back with an angry gaze.

 

"Tell me Buffy have I done anything other than help you since I came here?" Jenny asked, actually knowing the answer was no. "I have risked my life multiple times to aid you and yet because I followed my orders, you want to attack me out of some misguided need to blame someone for your mistake," she went on, wanting nothing more than to actually hit the blond girl in front of her.

 

"My mistake, what mistake did I make?" Buffy demanded, outraged at this comment.

 

You allowed yourself to first fall in love with a corpse and then compound it by ignoring all the warnings I and everyone else gave you about the relationship, right up unto the point where you broke the curse," Jenny immediately shot back. "Alex is right that you bare responsibility for the deaths Angelus is now causing, at it was you misjudgment that broke the curse and your choice to allow him to live at the mall," she all but shouted. "And your attempts at covering up her mistakes Rupert is criminal," she added.

 

"Just shut up, all you are trying to do is make up excuses for what you have done, so that we will forgive you, but understand this, we will never forgive you at any point," Buffy growled out, with pure hate in her eyes. "You cost me my soul mate and you did it for selfish revenge for a crime he did not commit," she stressed.

 

"Now that is where you are wrong, he did commit the crime he was cursed for, Angel is not actually the human personality he was before he was turned," Jenny countered. "He is the combined personalities of Liam and Angelus and hence he did the crime just as much as Angelus did. He was supposed to ensure Angelus remained caged instead he allowed himself to foolishly forget, so he could play games with you," she explained heatedly.

 

"This time, there will be no mercy for him Buffy. He has to die and if you will not do the job I will get someone who will," Xander cut back. Impressed with Jenny's take on the situation and her unique view of what the curse had actually done:

 

"Meaning what Xander? And don't think for a minute I believe you don't still want me"? Buffy sneered, completely unable to think that he had meant what he had said.

 

"I think you know exactly who I mean Buffy, so don't try and play coy. I'm calling Kendra and her watcher," Xander responded coldly. "Its time the real Slayer came to the Hellmouth," he added, before leading Jenny out of the library, ignoring her stupid belief he could still have feelings for her and leaving Buffy, Willow and Giles stunned at his response.

 

Cordelia who had been watching at the back, was slightly impressed by Xander's actions and actually hoped he was successful in bringing the Jamaican Slayer back to the Hellmouth, so that she could deal with the problem of Angelus. Oz on the other hand was unsure if Xander's actions were wise and he was angered that his actions upset Willow.  
2\. Chapter 2  
Chapter 2

(Rockville, Indiana)

He jerked back to the present as he felt Janna touch him and he opened his eyes to look at her. He noticed the concern in her eyes and he smiled to let her know that he was okay, before he focused on the situation. He walked over to the window and stared into the night and noticed it was getting worse. There were fewer people running from the zombies and he noted some left over cops fighting bravely against oncoming hordes to buy time for the people to escape.

"We can't stay here," he spoke up. "We're going to have to go out there and make for the exit," he added with a shake of his head. "Bad news is, the exit is nowhere close to where we are and there are now dozens of zombies out there," he said with a weak laugh.

 

"True enough, but at least we can't get killed by small things," Methos responded. "Our swords will at least keep the zombies at bay and your small armory will at least help," he added, indicting the weapons Xander kept in a black shoulder bag he carried around.

"Yeah, but I have no real heavy weapons, just handguns, magnums and machine pistols," Xander argued. "Its not like I expected to run into something like this, but considering our past I guess we should have," he said sarcastically.

 

"Oh relax Alex," Jenny cut in with a smile, knowing he was just moaning for the hell of it. "We've been in worse situations and at least we know how to handle zombies," she added. "If you get me out of here I'll let you pick a place for our next date," she said teasingly.

 

Connor and Methos groaned, having grown used to the teasing nature of the lovers. As students they were attentive and did what they were told but outside the lessons they could be so much like teenagers that it could get on their nerves. How the relationship had formed was still a mystery to them, as by the time they had bumped into the two they were already lovers. They knew Jenny was older than Alexander by five years and they also knew they had been friends for at least two years now.

 

They would still not answer certain questions about their past and that bugged Methos, as he disliked mysteries and just plain not knowing. Connor was more understanding about their silence. There were still things in his life he would not discuss, not even with Methos or Duncan. He decided it was time for them to move out and so headed for the door with his sword at the ready.

 

"We move fast and stick together. Methos you bring up the rear and I'll take point," he said turning to his friends. "Jenny and Xander will watch our flanks. If we can save anyone we will, but we do not go out looking for trouble," he said seriously. "As bad as it sounds, some of these people are on their own. We aren't equipped to save them," he added with a trace of bitterness.

 

The others nodded, although Xander and Jenny shared a dark glance at the idea of leaving anyone to their fate. They were so used to risking their lives to save anyone in need, but since meeting Connor and Methos and agreeing to be their students they had begun to learn there were some battles they could not fight and some people they just could not save, no matter how hard you tried. It was a hard thing to take in and accept, but they were learning slowly that it was necessary.

They finally left the shop and entered into a nightmare, as they saw three more people, one a teenager, being dragged down and basically torn apart in a shower of blood and guts. Across from them two cops were pulled down by their former colleagues, now also zombies and were quickly ripped apart. Three zombies quickly headed for them, Connor and Methos quickly attacked with their swords, cutting the arms of the offending zombies and then their heads soon followed, whilst Xander took the last one cutting it in half before taking its head.

He tried not to allow the horror he felt at seeing what had befallen the people of the city to affect him, but it was not an easy thing to do. Checking only to make sure Jenny was by his side before he followed after Connor, as Methos fell back to cover their backs, as they had agreed.

As they walked through the burning city, the memories of how he and Jenny got here returned and he allowed them to come.

 

+++

 

(Flashback, Sunnydale)

Xander sat alongside Jenny, as they waited for Kendra and her watcher, Sam Zabuto, to meet them. Their plane was supposed to have arrived half an hour ago. It had been a long two days waiting for the arrival of the pair, as Buffy, Willow and Giles continued to try and dissuade them of their chosen course of action. They had ignored them as best as they could and tried to continue on at the school. They had not patrolled so far, although Xander had begun to believe Jenny was up to something she was not telling him about.

This worried him greatly, especially if she was risking her life, but she refused to say anything when he asked, so he decided to keep a very close eye on her, starting tonight.

 

Jenny was more at ease with the growing separation from Buffy and the others than Xander was. The hurt and pain she had felt at Giles's rejection had faded into the background and had been replaced with anger and even hate. The utter disdain she now felt for Buffy and Willow was another factor in this. Xander however, whilst just as angry as her at their actions, had not yet given up hope that he could salvage his friendships with them.

 

Finally they noted Kendra making her way towards them, with her watcher just behind her. They stood up from their table and greeted them. Xander noted Kendra looked slightly cautious in his presence and he began to suspect this was not going to go smoothly. Mr Zabuto also seemed cautious, but determined.

"Mr. Harris, Miss Calendar I am pleased to meet you," the watcher began, as they all took their seats at the table of the café. "I will start by saying that just after your own call, I received a call from Mr. Giles informing me you were only doing this for a prank to annoy Miss Summers, who he stated you were having problems with at the moment," he informed them, confirming what Xander had feared.

 

He cursed himself for actually telling Buffy and the others what he had planned to do, but at least he could prove everything he had said and at least they had come to Sunnydale to see for themselves just what the truth was.

 

"This is no prank Mr Zabuto, this is deadly serious," Xander stated with a cold look back in his eyes, cursing Giles for his actions and trying to protect Buffy's stupidity.

 

"I hope not for your sake, as I do not take kindly to been mislead, especially with such a nightmarish tale. If Angelus is indeed once again loose he must be dealt with," Zabuto responded just as coldly. "I find it difficult to believe Miss Summers and Mr. Giles would ignore such a problem," he stated in a troubled tone.

 

"I can understand you wanting to trust your fellow watcher and a slayer over two strangers who you don't know, but the situation in Sunnydale is reaching a critical point and I fear what could happen, considering Buffy and Giles have basically given Angelus free reign," Jenny finally spoke up. "She had him dead to rights after we beat the Judge, our last combined effort, but she let him go, knowing he would continue to kill. Two days ago, during an argument, she claimed she was just not ready to kill him, as if that had any bearing on the matter," she added.

"You have to understand Mr. Zabuto, Buffy is so far gone for Angel that she does not see what he has become or if she does she is ignoring it and Giles is letting her. The body count in this town is climbing and nothing is being done, even worse he has once again teamed up with Spike and Drusilla," Xander cut back in. "We should feel lucky that Darla was at least killed last year or we would be in even worse trouble. Kendra saw how Buffy acted when she was last here in regards to Angel," he pointed out turning to the Slayer.

 

Kendra noted everyone was now looking at her and waiting for her to say something. She sighed, hating this because she actually did believe Xander's version of events. She had seen just how far Buffy would go to save Angel, she had seen how desperate she got when his life was threatened and now it would seem that her mistake in not finishing him off when she had him locked in cage to be exposed to sunlight was going to come back and bite her.

"They are telling the truth," she finally spoke up. "Buffy is basically obsessed with Angel and I can just imagine her refusing to act now that Angelus is loose," she continued with a frown marring her face. "However I find it hard to understand how Mr. Giles could allow such a thing, as he seemed to be a decent person the last time I was here," she said very uncertainly.

 

"You seem to be missing the obvious point that Giles allowed his Slayer to have a relationship with a vampire," Jenny cut in again, knowing they had to convince the duo of the truth. "That is not only against the laws of the Council, I am sure it is against all laws of nature of life. She had not only had a relationship with him, but bedded him as well, which is what broke the curse in the first place," she explained, noting the instant look of distaste and horror on the duo's faces her words provoked. "But instead of acting to remove the threat, they are wasting their time blaming me for the problem," she said angrily.

 

"May I inquire as to why Miss Calendar?" Zabuto asked, taking in everything he was been told and trying to ignore the fact that, according to the people in front of him, a Slayer had actually had sex with a vampire, a fact that disgusted him to no end.

Kendra was no better off, even though she was not actually that surprised that Buffy had done it, she felt whatever loose ties she had to her sister Slayer shatter. As if the Slayer spirit within her rebelled at what its counterpart had done.

"I am Romany and part of the clan who cursed Angelus in the first place, I was sent here to ensure the curse held, however I did not know how the curse could be broken before it was too late," Jenny answered warily leaning back in her seat. "That combined with the fact I did not tell them the truth, no matter that I was under orders not to, makes me a traitor in their eyes. They ignore all the help I have given them since coming here and the times I almost died helping them, just to make Buffy happy," she stressed her point.

Sam Zabuto leaned back in his own seat and rubbed his eyes, as the two before him painted a very messy picture of the situation here on the Hellmouth. The question was how much of it was true. He knew his Slayer seemed to think it was possible, but he found it much harder to believe a man like Mr. Giles could allow such a thing to happen. He needed evidence before he could take action.

 

"If you want proof," Xander said, seemly reading his mind. "We'll take you to the library and let you see for yourselves. We could even patrol tonight and see if we can find Angelus," he added. "I doubt he would do anything but to try and kill us sometime though. I loath to admit, Angel would not do," he said with a shake of his head.

"Very well lead the way," Zabuto said, as he got up, truly hoping what he had been told was a lie, but somehow he doubted it was. The two people before him had showed no hint of dishonesty and had been very serious since they had arrived.

 

+++

 

(Rockville, Indiana)

Xander quickly came back to the present as more zombies attacked them and they quickly struck back. He ducked the wild swings and quickly lashed out with his own sword, cutting the zombie down the middle before he swept his sword across the things neck, watching as its head fell off. He turned to see Jenny cut down one more, whilst Connor and Methos each removed two more from their paths. It was clear the trek through the city was not going to be easy and it was not going to be fast, they would be getting into a lot of fights he thought, before pausing as the sounds of a helicopter began to come through the night.

"Do you hear that?" Connor asked, looking up and trying to see the chopper.

 

"Yeah and it is almost on top of us," Methos shot back, keeping an eye out for more zombies whilst the others looked up.

 

Ropes hit the ground close to them, causing them to back off as people began to arrive sliding down the ropes. Each was armed heavily and by the looks on their faces they were ready to face the nightmare head on. Once the last one touched the ground, the chopper began to leave, surprising them.

 

"Hi," the youngest of the group said. "Are you okay?" she asked, before checking them for what looked like injuries.

 

"We're fine so far but this nightmare isn't over yet and considering you chopper just left, I'm thinking this is not a rescue mission," Xander responded.

 

"It is a rescue op, but the chopper can't transport many people and it would be too dangerous for it to land here with the virus already loose," a tall heavily built man with a beard said, while cocking a magnum. "Our intentions are to get as many survivors as we can to the border of the town where three choppers will be waiting," he informed them.

 

"Did you just say a virus is the cause of all this?" Jenny inquired, first in shock and then in horror.

"I'm afraid so," another of the males replied, nodding his head with a grim look on his face. "If one of these creatures bites or claws you then you will become infected," he added, before turning to the youngest again. "Any signs, Rebecca?" he asked.

 

"They are clear Chris, no bites or claw marks," the girl responded, with a smile which was soon shared by the rest of the group.

 

"Ok listen up, a virus unleashed by Umbrella, is the reason this city is going to hell. They had a lab here we were going to try and shut down, but we did not get here in time," the man, identified as Chris, informed them. "We are part of an anti Umbrella resistance and our mission is to save lives and bring Umbrella down," he added.

"Racoon City, the Spencer mansion," Methos said. "I remember hearing about this a year ago, the whole city was nuked," he said at the others look.

 

"Yeah nuked to cover up what actually went on," a tall busty woman said, with an angry look on her face. "I barely escaped with my life, as for the mansion that happened before Racoon was overcome by the same thing you see now," she added. "Almost our entire team was wiped out and when we tried to warn people they refused to listen. Umbrella discredited us and the city went on to pay for their stupidity," she growled.

"Easy Jill that is in the past," Chris said, knowing his friend still harbored a lot of anger about those events. "My name is Chris, that is Jill, Rebecca, Barry, Claire and Leon," he introduced themselves.

 

"The S.T.A.R.S survivors," Methos exclaimed. "Damn I remember the news reports on you. I can't believe I missed a cover up going down," he spat. "It stunk, but I did not see what else it could have been," he said.

"Knock it off Methos they don't want to hear platitudes. My name is Xander and this are Jenny, Connor and Methos," Xander cut off the older man, knowing if he had been through what the people in front of him had been through the last thing he would want was pity and false platitudes.

 

"Nice to meet you, at least you managed to get armed, even if it is with swords," Jill said in response, pleased by the younger man's words because they were true, she'd had enough of people saying how sorry they were for what had gone down in Racoon.

 

"Oh I have some handguns, Magnums and machine pistols in my backpack, but the swords are doing ok against the zombies," Xander shot back.

 

"Sadly this virus doesn't just create zombies, Xander," Rebecca replied, with a grimace that was noted by the others. "It affects all living things and the monsters it can create are truly terrible, so I suggest you hand out whatever guns you have, believe me you'll need them," she explained.

 

Xander looked the girl in the eye and could tell she meant every word, which sent a shiver down his spine. He nodded and did just that, as Chris, Barry and Leon began to shoot another wave of zombies heading in their direction. He had noted Rebecca was about his age, Claire and Leon just slightly older and the others just above them with Barry been the eldest, each looked competent and able to handle themselves and he felt their chances of survival had just gone up.

 

He kept close to Jenny, as they began to move forward, with Rebecca on his other side. He wondered just what kind of monsters Rebecca had mentioned would be within the city and he wondered just how long it would be before the vampires and demons took advantage of the chaos.  
3\. Chapter 3  
Resident Evil Immortal Survival Chapter 3

+++

(Rockville, Indiana)

Xander brought his sword up and slashed downwards, taking the zombies head off as it attacked him. Beside him Rebecca fired her SMG into another zombie, which allowed Jenny to remove first its legs and then its head, after it had fallen to the floor.

 

Chris and Jill were standing back to back blasting away with their shotguns, aiming directly for the zombie's brain stems. This was an effective tactic and stopped them cold.

 

Barry was beside Methos and Connor combining sword and gun to remove their attackers, whilst Leon and Claire were off to the side also using shotguns.

 

It struck Xander that this group was well used to dealing with the creatures, this virus they mentioned had created and it showed in their fighting technique, he ducked under another zombies attack and pulled his magnum from his belt and fired a round right into the things heart. This caused the zombie to stumble backwards allowing him to swipe his sword wide and remove its head, looking around he saw Leon and Claire bring the last of the zombies, who had attacked them down.

 

"We clear?" he asked, just to make sure he had not missed any.

 

"Looks like it," Leon responded. "You all fight well and seem to really know how to use those swords." he added, wondering how civilians so well trained happened to be in this town at the onset of the outbreak.

 

He didn't think they had anything to do with Umbrella, as he doubted they would send people using swords. It didn't fit with the high profile mercenaries Umbrella employed. Also whilst they had at least heard of Umbrella from news reports, their reactions to being told a virus had created the situation were real. He could see no signs of deception.

 

Xander and the others shared glances, noting suspicion on Chris and Barry's faces. Claire also seemed to be leaning in that direction, but Rebecca, Jill and Leon seemed to be giving them the benefit of the doubt. He sighed knowing if they did not tell them the truth, the distrust from Chris and the others might get them into deeper trouble, so ignoring Methos shake of his head he turned and responded.

 

"We are immortals Leon. I guess the best way to think of us would be an off shoot of normal humans," he explained. "We can't be killed at all, unless killed in a certain manner which I will not mention here, as far as we know immortals have always been a part of humanity, just very well hidden," he continued. "Immortals are cursed to take part in something we call the game, which involves fighting one another, one on one with swords and in the end there can be only one," he finished with distaste.

 

Jill listened, as Xander explained all of this and noted the disbelief on Chris and Barry's faces. Leon and Claire seemed unsure what to believe, whilst Rebecca was looking intrigued. She herself was not certain what to believe, but she could see no signs of lying from Xander and his friends were reluctantly nodding in agreement with him.

 

"So you're telling me, that if I put a bullet in you, you die, but then come back to life?" Chris asked, as he pointed his handgun at Xander's chest, who looked unconcerned.

 

"Go ahead, take a shot right at my heart," Xander encouraged him with a smile, ignoring the groans from his friends.

 

Chris looked at Barry who shrugged his shoulders and then Jill who just looked unsure. He decided to do as asked and fired his weapon. They all watched as Xander fell to the floor dead. Jill looked straight at Jenny and her friends and noted they were shaking their heads in such a way that indicated annoyance with their friend.

She jerked back as Xander suddenly sat back up, arching his back as he did so. He shot a smile at Chris, before grabbing his gun and getting back to his feet. He winced at the slap Jenny gave him around the back of the head and just gave her a smile.

 

"And there is your proof," Xander said, as Rebecca quickly began checking his vitals with a very impressed look on her face. "Immortals exists and before you ask why I told you, its because for us to survive this, we need to trust one another and you told us who you are we could do no less," he explained. "I noted the distrust from most of you from the start and that was just going to get worse the more time would pass," he continued.

 

"I can understand that Alex, but did you have do it in such a way?" Methos asked annoyed with his friend's choice.

 

He did not like giving away information about his Immortality to anyone, unless he knew one hundred percent they were not a threat and no matter who these people were, he did not trust them at all. Connor thought over Xander's explanation and after thinking it over, agreed with his stance. Trust in a situation like this was important and as he had said, Chris and his friends had told them who they were and why they were here.

 

Jenny just shook her head, knowing Xander may have changed a lot over the years, but one thing about him that had not changed was his shocking disregard for risks. He would take any risk, no matter how dangerous to achieve his objective. She couldn't hold it against him, as without that trait she would be in this all on her own. There was no telling just how long she might had lived as an Immortal on her own, but she doubted it would have been as long as with Alex.

 

"This is truly amazing," Rebecca's voice broke them all out of their thoughts, as she finished her examination of Xander. "All of his vitals are normal, there is no gunshot wound at all. I wonder if your biology is different from ours?" she wondered.

 

"Not to our knowledge," Xander responded with a smile, finding Rebecca's enthusiasm funny and sadly a reminder of Willow, but he quickly shook that comparison off.

 

"No offense, but how do we know you don't work for Umbrella?" Barry questioned them.

 

"One we would not have told you the truth of who we are if we did. I think you could tell our surprise at what you told us about what caused all this was genuine and finally, honestly do we look like someone Umbrella would hire?" Connor answered.

 

Chris and the others shared a glance before realizing the guy had a point on all points, they really did not look like the normal mercenaries Umbrella employed and their surprise had been real. They could all tell that and no they would not have mentioned their Immortality to them, something Chris was still trying to wrap his head around.

 

"I think we should move on," Claire spoke up, finally breaking the silence that had descended on them all. "Lingering will just get us trapped," she added.

 

Everyone agreed with this statement and they began to move forwards again, Rebecca moved up to Xander and Jenny's side and began asking questions, whilst Jill watched. She could not fault her friend's thirst for knowledge on this subject, as she was curious too. Usually the strange things they encountered ended up trying to kill them. This time it seemed for ones that it was going to help them to survive.

 

Xander and Jenny answered Rebecca's questions as best they could, but as they did so they began to once again fall back into the past. The answers they were giving brought it all back.

 

+++

 

(Flashback, Sunnydale High School)

 

Xander led Kendra and Mr. Zabuto into the library, alongside Jenny, hoping against hope this meeting was not about to explode into a huge argument. Looking around he noted only Giles was currently inside at the table, reading a paper.

 

He took a deep breath before feeling Jenny's hand grasp his and give it a squeeze, he squeezed back before moving forward, drawing Giles attention as they came to a halt at the table.

 

His look of shock and dismay did not go unnoticed by Kendra or her watcher and was very telling that he did not want them here, which made Sam Zabuto feel, that things were as bad, as had been reported to them. For Kendra it was a confirmation of the truth and that angered her. She had respected Mr. Giles, but now that respect began to die.

 

"What are you doing here? I told you they are just messing around," Giles said, standing up and trying to stem a well of panic, which was trying to burst out.

 

Ever since Xander had stated he intended to bring the true slayer and her watcher here, he had been on knife hooks. He had tried to put them off, but clearly he had failed. He cursed Jenny and Xander, even if deep inside he knew it was properly the best option to be taken, considering the circumstances. He knew he had failed to carry out his duty in ensuring Buffy staked Angelus.

 

He had noted his growing tendency to allow Buffy to have full control of her life, even in her duty. He had grown to care for her wellbeing and whilst disgusted by her relationship with Angel, he had not been able to find it within himself to try to end it. Part of the problem they now faced was his own fault, but Xander and Jenny had no real idea what kind of trouble they had brought down on Buffy and himself. All they were thinking of was trying to kill Angelus. They didn't understand that by making what had happened here public, his life as well as Buffy's was now in danger from the Council if Zabuto reported it.

 

"I highly doubt that from your reaction to our presence here Mr. Giles," Zabuto responded with a shake of his head. "You are clearly worried and nervous about us being present in Sunnydale," he added. "Full proof of the truth will come tonight. If Angelus is still contained than surely Miss Summers can produce him, as I would like to meet this souled vampire for myself," he stated, deciding to cut right to the heart of the matter.

 

Giles began to really panic, as he knew Buffy could not show up with Angel, as Angel no longer existed, he wanted to groan, but he didn't. He noted the satisfied looks Jenny and Xander exchanged and wanted to rage at them, but he didn't. Could he really blame them for their actions? The truth was no he couldn't. He collapsed back into his seat and ran a hand through his hair.

 

"She can't do it can she?" Kendra stated in disgust. "Everything we've been told is the truth," she added heatedly.

 

"You don't understand the situation here. Buffy is not your normal slayer," Giles said desperately. "She was not raised by the Council and has not allowed herself to be cut off from her life, even if I had forbidden her to see Angel, I highly doubt she would have listened," he argued, finally trying to rally a comeback.

 

"You should have staked him the very minute you learned he was a vampire," Mr. Zabuto stated. "Instead you have allowed your slayer to be brought under the sway of one of the most dangerous vampires to ever walk the Earth so much, so that she will not kill him even when he is carving a bloody path through this town," he argued. "This will not stand Mr. Giles and tonight your slayer will answer to me and will be given one chance to aid us in stopping Angelus. I suggest you do all in you power to convince her to accept it," he informed him, before turning and leaving, followed by Kendra so they could book into a hotel.

 

"I hope you two are happy," Giles said. "If Buffy refuses to aid Zabuto she could face a trial and summary execution by the Council for failure to do her duty," he explained.

"We wouldn't be in this mess, had she not refused to kill him. You have no one to blame, but yourself," Jenny shot back, not concerned in the least, as she knew sometimes hard choices had to be made and she and Xander had made one.

 

She noted Xander was looking shocked, so she grabbed his hand and led him out of the library, knowing she would need to talk him through this. She knew he still held a connection to Buffy and the others and now she would have to help him cut it.  
4\. Chapter 4  
Resident Evil - Immortal Survival

Chapter 4

 

(Rockville, Indiana)

 

Xander shook his head and concentrated on his surroundings and noted they were moving deeper into the town. Jenny was still to his left talking with Jill, whilst Rebecca was just ahead of him now.

 

He had to stop thinking about the past, but for some reason the memories kept coming at odd intervals, he did not like to think about what had gone down in Sunnydale.

 

The situation could have easily been avoided by them all, but Buffy's refusal to ever see how dangerous the problem with Angelus had become or even before that, how dangerous her contact with Angel was, had prevented that.

 

The stupidity of Willow and the others allowing her to get so close to the souled vampire was just as bad. His and Jenny's first death had not been pleasant and dealing with the fallout of becoming immortal had been hard.

 

Their estrangement from the Scooby gang by then was complete. He had held out for a while that maybe they could reforge their friendships, but that had just been wishful thinking, in his mind now there was no going back and he wouldn't want it any other way.

 

Jenny took a glance at Xander, as they went and noted the look in his eyes and could guess what he was thinking about. She knew that every now and then he would think of those last few days in Sunnydale, but she knew he would not change how things had ended.

 

They had left Sunnydale to start a new life and while running into Connor and Methos had not been intended, it had helped them survive. They still had a lot to learn and if they got out of this mess she was sure they would make it.

 

"So is being immortal a good thing?" Jill asked her.

 

"It has its up and downs. The worst thing is that immortals can never have children," Jenny replied sadly. "We do not know why this is so, but for some it is a curse," she explained. "In addition we also have to deal with head hunters. Evil immortals whose only desire in life is to kill other immortals, because when we kill another immortal we gain their power, strength and memories and so many of us become addicted to it," she continued. "It is a dangerous life and yet we can survive pretty much anything. Some of us are so old that the wonders we take for granted today, is still hard for them to truly understand and if we can survive into the future, think of what we might see," she stated with a small smile.

 

Jill took all of that in and tried to work out if the sacrifice one made in becoming immortal was worth it. Not being able to have kids must be devastating when new immortals learn this fact. Some may even develop a suicidal trend once they know this. The problem with evil immortals seemed like a never ending war. Yet she could imagine what it would be like to live so far into the future to see things she could not yet fathom, also some of their friendships and relationships could last centuries and that would be truly amazing.

 

"Heads up," Connor shouted. "We have company," he warned them as he pointed forward as a group of infected dogs and zombies headed for them.

 

One of the dogs run off, as a survivor stumbled out of an ally way and turned around, only to be bowled over by the dog and his throat quickly ripped out in a shower of blood. Barry took aim at the dog, as it continued to feast on the now dead survivor. It had begun to tear into the person's face and he fired two rounds from his magnum, hitting the dog in the neck and stomach, throwing it backwards by the force of the shot. It tried to get back up so Barry fired another round that hit it in the head and finally killed it.

 

The others moved to take positions, as the three remaining dogs and five zombies continued to head towards them. They opened fire as soon as they could, missing with the first few shots, but soon two of the infected dogs were dead.

 

The third one bore down on Methos with increasing speed, he dropped the gun he had been firing and grabbed his sword and at the last second spun in a cutting arc and removed the head of the dog as it lunged at him.

 

His jeans were coated with some of the dog's blood, but he paid it no mind as he charged into the two leading zombies. Connor cursed and soon grabbed his own sword and moved to back him up, as the others tried to adjust their firing so they would not hit their two allies. Xander and Jenny also grabbed their swords and after telling the others to conserve their ammo they also charged into the fight.

 

"God damn it," Chris swore. "They are taking a big risk fighting them so close," he added with a shake of his head.

 

"They could be infected easily," Leon added, as he looked around and kept an eye out for more enemies. "All it would take is for them to be either scratched or bit," he reminded them.

 

"Hold on guys," Rebecca cut in. "We do not know that immortals can get infected, as it is possible whatever brings them back to life after being killed could in theory counteract the virus itself," she stated, but everyone could hear the unsure tone in her voice as she spoke.

 

"Rebecca, if their unique biology could fight off the effects of the virus, do you think you could create a cure from it?" Claire inquired, as she thought it over.

Rebecca considered the question, but she was not very sure about the answer, as she still did not know that much about immortals. However the possibility was there. "It is a possibility we could look into, if we can get out of this mess, but for now I refuse to suggest we ask one of them to let themselves get infected, just to find out," she added with a little fire, as she spoke.

 

"Hey easy Rebecca, we would never ask anyone to take such a risk," Jill assured her friend, pulling her into a small hug, as she watched Xander duck a lunging zombie before he turned and brought his sword down into the back of its neck and right down its spine.

 

The zombie shuddered before it collapsed, with part of its spine exposed. Xander quickly imbedded his sword through its brain, making sure it was dead.

 

Jenny quickly moved to cover him, as a zombie bypassed Connor and charged at Xander's exposed back. She shoved her sword forward right though its guts and then swept it upwards, basically splitting the zombies chest open and spilling its guts everywhere.

 

Methos brought the last of the zombies down by first cutting one of its arms off with a wide swing and then bringing his sword down diagonally, cutting the zombie in half and somehow he avoided been covered in the gore that followed.

 

"These zombies are everywhere," Connor spat, as he backed up. "Getting through this town will not be easy," he added.

 

"Don't get discouraged McLeod, we'll make it," Methos shot back with a shake of his head.

 

Xander returned to Rebecca's side, with Jenny close behind. "I see now what you meant by saying this virus infects everything it comes into contact with, including animals," he said, as he looked at one of the dead infected dogs.

 

He noted it had been a Doberman, but now it looked like something else. It was missing half of its fur, leaving it skinless and had blotches and bloody patches all over its body. Its mouth was covered in blood, but he noted some of its teeth were missing. He shivered, truly revolted by what he was seeing. 

 

"Yeah the virus is probably the most destructive one ever created," Rebecca replied darkly. "We know for a fact Umbrella has a cure for the T-virus strain, but it is not 100% liable, especially against mutated strains of the virus. It is also useless against the G-virus strain," she explained.

 

"How have they got away with it for so long?" Jenny inquired, as she tried to avoid looking at the mutated dogs.

 

"They have contacts in many governments, including our own. They also employ bribery and death threats or thy simply remove someone they view as a threat and replace them with someone more pliable," Chris answered from behind her.

 

"Ok enough of the history lesson, we need to move," Methos interrupted, as he decapitated the survivor who had been mauled by the infected dog and was just getting back up as a zombie.

 

The others agreed and they began to move on again. Xander kept a close eye on his surroundings as they went. He was going over everything Rebecca had said and truly believed that what Umbrella was doing was worse than the knowledge of what vampires and demons did every day and night. The fact the people in charge of Umbrella were human made it even worse.

 

Then again the more he thought about it the more he concluded that humans were every bit as capable as demons and vampires of committing true evil. All he had to remember was the saying that the only way evil prospered was for good people to do nothing. This train of thought made him remember more of their past.

 

+++

 

(Flashback Jenny's house)

 

Xander sat down still shocked at what Giles had said about Buffy being killed by the Council, if she refused to help deal with Angelus. This had never been his intention when he had set out to summon Kendra and her watcher to Sunnydale. He had just wanted to ensure she did her job and finally removed the threat that Angelus had become and maybe also finally remove Spike and Drusilla as well, if they were lucky. He had never expected this turn of events.

 

Jenny was upstairs changing into some fresh clothes, whilst thinking of how to cut Xander's ties to Buffy and the others permanently. She had enough of people rolling over, just to make the blond airhead happy. She had done her duty to the best of her ability, but it had not been enough to stop Angelus being released, and the most frustrating thing was Giles and the others blamed her for this, rather than Buffy who had gone and broken the curse in the first place.

 

She knew they were just doing what Buffy wanted, she thought as she put on a tight blouse and then her skirt. She preferred skirts and whilst they could be troublesome when she was in danger she still preferred wearing them. She headed back downstairs to find Xander now pacing back and forth. She rolled her eyes and headed for her kitchen and made them both a cup of coffee, before heading back to her living room, Xander was still pacing.

 

"Xander just stop and sit down," she commanded and was relieved when he instantly obeyed and accepted the cup she handed him. "Now I think we need to have a talk," she told him, after drinking some of her coffee.

 

"We got to protect Buffy," Xander said, looking up and meeting her eyes.

"No we do not," Jenny responded, somewhat irritated by his statement, but not truly surprised by it. "Buffy and the others have bought this situation to this stage and now they have to deal with the consequences of their actions. Buffy should have known that she could not ignore her duty without there being repercussions and Rupert should not have hid the facts of what could happen from her," she informed him.

 

"But the Council could execute her," Xander argued, still not fully comprehending how they had gotten to this point.

 

"Yes they could and whilst I feel somewhat bad that this may be necessary, she has brought it on herself," Jenny replied seriously. "How many people in Sunnydale have lost their lives because Buffy is not doing her job? Because she allowed Angelus to escape his destruction when she had him at her mercy in the mall after we defeated the judge?" She demanded to know of him.

 

Xander stared at her, unable to defend Buffy's actions because it was those actions that had caused him to call in Kendra in the first place. The death count in Sunnydale had hit the roof since Angelus had been released and Buffy refused to act, but still could he truly accept that Buffy's death was acceptable? What would Joyce say when she found out and he was sure she would discover the truth in the end?

 

Was there no other way out of the situation, maybe he could talk to Zabuto and convince him that just forcing Buffy to deal with Angelus was punishment enough? He met Jenny's gaze again, before voicing this opinion. He watched as she considered this, before smiling somewhat darkly.

 

"That sounds like a viable option Xander," Jenny finally replied. "I honestly do not want Buffy's death on my hands. No matter that many people have died due to her stupidity. Her emotional pain at having to kill Angelus will at least be something, but it will not make up for the people who died," she added.

 

"I know nothing will make it up to those who have died or have lost people to Angelus, but I just don't believe killing her is the best thing," Xander said with a sigh.

 

Jenny could understand that, but she was still determined to cut Xander's ties with the group. For now she relaxed on the sofa and brought her legs up under her, she noted Xander's eyes briefly trail down to her legs before quickly shooting upwards. She smiled and shook her head, thinking it was nice to be thought of as sexy, not something she recently had, since her break up with Rupert.

 

+++

 

(Rockville, Indiana)

 

Xander came back to himself, as he heard a machine gun open fire and looked to his left to see Leon open fire on another zombie, which was trying to bite into a young girl of about seventeen years of age. A young man of probably the same age lay on the ground next to them, already trying to stem a bite wound.

 

He quickly rushed forward with his sword, ignoring the bullets from Leon's assault rifle and attacked the zombie drawing it away from the girl, who collapsed next to her dying friend. Chris and Jill soon joined him and combined, they easily took the zombie down. Xander decapitated it just to make sure it was dead. Rebecca checked on the wounded boy, but soon shook her head sadly and said there was nothing she could do. 

 

This made the girl cry as the boy let out his final moan, before dying a few moments later. Rebecca moved to check the girl and found she had no bite marks or scratches and so was ok to take with him.

 

It took a little time for Claire and Jill to get the young girl to calm down, but soon she did and stated her name was Victoria Preston. After explaining a little of what was going on she agreed to go with them.

 

Xander remained behind for a few minutes, until the young man on the floor began to reanimate and quickly took his head off, before he quickly followed the rest. He hoped they could save more survivors as they went. He quickly caught up to Jill and Jenny who were bringing up the rear.

 

"How far do you think the boundary of the city is?" Jenny was asking Jill, as he came up to her side.

 

"From the chopper it looked at least a few hours walk, but I can't say for sure," Jill said. "Hopefully it will not be that far, as I do not know if we brought enough ammo for that. We have to be careful not to weigh ourselves down for these sorts of missions," she explained, to which Jenny nodded in understanding.

 

"Well maybe we can find some more supplies as we go. A city this big must have either a weapons store or a general supply store, which does have some supplies," Xander cut in, making them both turn to him.

 

"Good idea Xander," Jill agreed. "I'll tell the others to keep an eye out," she added, before she moved off towards Claire and Leon, who were in front of them.

 

"How are you doing Alex?" Jenny asked, moving closer to his side.

 

"I'm okay," Xander replied with a small smile, which she returned. "I just found it so hard to believe what we stumbled into, as if our lives were not complicated enough," he stated.

 

Jenny nodded in understanding, but did not reply. Instead she pressed on and kept an eye out for either anymore survivors or anymore approaching enemies. She truly wanted to get out of this town quickly. As they continued she thought back to the day her relationship with Xander changed from one of friendship to one of lovers. It was just days after they had confronted Buffy side by side with Kendra and her watcher.

 

They had been arguing about the best course of action to take, whilst Buffy had finally been brought under control by Sam Zabuto and the reluctant help of Giles, but she was still dragging her feet and causing problems for them.

 

Xander was not helping matters by holding on to a faint hope of rebuilding the group's relationship. He did not want to give it up completely just yet, whilst Jenny was more than ever sure that separating from them, once Angelus, Spike and Drusilla were dealt with was the best thing for them.

 

+++

 

(Flashback, Jenny's house)

 

Jenny could not believe Xander continued to hold on as much as he could to the hope that he could reconcile with Buffy and the others, when in her eyes it was not only a pointless hope, but also a farfetched one. Yes, Buffy had finally been made to give in to the orders to destroy Angelus, but this had brought her full hatred of Xander and herself to the forefront of every meeting they had since then.

 

She was beginning to be fed up and annoyed of having to have the same argument with him and finally when she could hold onto her temper no more, she lashed out and slapped him right across the face.

 

Silence reigned for a few moments afterwards as they stared at one another. The heat in their gazes began to change to one of passion and the hidden and secretive feelings and attraction between the two began to leak out. Jenny had tried so very hard to ignore her growing attraction to the young man, with whom she spent so much time with lately, but right now her control was all but burnt out.

 

She knew that getting involved with Xander right now was the worst possible thing she could do, as it could land them both in big trouble if anyone found out, but if Buffy could get away with sleeping with a damn corpse, then why should she be condemned for her own actions in taking Xander as a lover?

 

Granted the problems were not just with Buffy and the others, if anyone else found out about them, she faced real consequences, but at the moment that meant very little to her, as she stared harder and deeper into Xander's eyes.

 

For Xander it was just as bad. He knew that as a teacher and his teacher to boot getting involved romantically was a very bad idea and one that could have dire results, should it come out. Even considering all of that, he felt his will to resist the temptation slip away as he gazed into her eyes and all the more as time passed.

 

Finally the temptation proved to much and he shot forward and captured her mouth in a heated kiss. Jenny for the first few seconds tried to resist, but quickly gave in and surrendered to her lust, as she held onto Xander and pulled him closer.

 

They dueled for dominance for a while, before finally breaking off for air and once again stared at one another. They each saw a question posed in their eyes and as one they decided to take the risk. Both wanted comfort from the other after so long without and both wanted to feel pleasure to remove the anger and frustration, which had been a constant for them since the danger began.

 

Jenny turned and grabbed his hand and led him upstairs to her bedroom.

 

Xander followed almost in a daze, but soon came to a halt just outside her door as he realized he did not have any protection on him, but Jenny assured him she was in no danger of getting pregnant, as she was on the pill. They entered the bedroom and Xander, as soon as the door was shut spun her around and pulled her into another deep kiss, which caused her to melt against his larger frame. She moaned, as she felt one of his hands reach downward and give her ass a small feel. For a second her mind protested what she was going to do, but she quickly shoved the thought away.

 

She pulled away from him and took a few steps back, before she slowly and teasingly opened the buttons of her blouse, revealing a silk dark blue bra underneath, as she removed the blouse she noted how dark Xander's eyes had become and she smiled, completely consumed by her lust as she removed her skirt to show she wore a matching silk pair of panties.

 

She posed for him as he quickly removed his t-shirt and shot forward and quickly grabbed her and kissed her again, before he trailed down her neck which made her moan in pleasure, as she felt him unhook her bra and she quickly helped to shrug it off.

 

Xander stared in appreciation and lust at her ample bosom and quickly began to suck and bite her nipples and breasts for a good five minutes, before she pushed him away. He stood up and quickly removed his pants and boxer shorts leaving him naked, as he turned around he caught sight of Jenny removing her panties, leaving her equally naked.

 

She climbed onto her bed and motioned Xander to come to her and he quickly complied. They exchanged more heated kisses before she finally guided Xander to her entrance and he quickly pushed forward, making her moan even louder.

 

It took a minute for Jenny to get used to him, but soon they began to move in sync. Xander quickly zoned back in on her breasts and continued his suckling and biting, before he turned them over so Jenny was on top. He thought with her hair trailing down her, as she moved, made her look even more beautiful, he trailed his hand down her sides as they picked up the pace.

 

Jenny arched her back as she finally reached an orgasm twenty minutes later, having controlled the pace making sure their lovemaking was not over quickly, she now collapsed onto Xander, who she felt soon join her and empty himself into her womb.

 

They lay together completely exhausted and after a few minutes she began to feel two conflicting emotions. One was happiness at having a lover again and the second was fear that she had just made a big mistake.

 

Xander too was beginning to wonder, if what they had just done, by giving into their lust, would not come back and destroy them. He closed his eyes and ran his hand though Jenny's hair, making her cling tighter to him as he made sure the blanket covered them. As time passed they both fell into an uneasy and yet comfortable sleep. Their last thoughts were they would have to have a long talk the next day, before they did anything else.

 

+++

 

(Rockville, Indiana)

 

Jenny came back to herself as she felt Xander briefly touch her shoulder and she gave him a reassuring look to which he nodded and then moved closer to Rebecca and began to talk to the younger woman. Jenny remembered that the talk on the next morning had indeed been long and whilst a lot was sorted out, their status did not immediately turn into a full on relationship, as both were unsure if they were willing to take the risks involved.

 

She closed her eyes briefly and then opened them again as she recalled that it was their deaths that had changed everything, that had been the turning point that had made them willing to finally embrace the love they had developed for one another.

 

Now she could not imagine her life any other way and if given the chance to change it, she did not think for a moment she would and she doubted Xander would either. She shook her head clear of the past and concentrated on the here and now, as Leon fell back to help her cover their rear.

 

Up at the front Chris was leading the way with Methos. Connor and Barry close to their sides, so that they were not caught in a flank attack. In the middle was Rebecca, Victoria, Xander, Jill and Claire, whilst Leon and Jenny brought up the rear.

 

"So, just how many cities have fallen to Umbrella's virus since Racoon?" Methos inquired.

 

"Including Racoon," Chris replied to which Methos nodded. "Four cities have been destroyed by the virus this will be number five, plus two smaller towns," he told them. "Before you ask why no one has caught onto this, that is easy to explain," he quickly said, as Connor went to protest. "Umbrella has become very used to covering up virus disasters with a combination of bribery, using their pawns in the governments and also media disinformation," he explained.

 

"Most of the disinformation usually falls on either blaming the resistance to Umbrella as terrorists or on a power plant going critical," he continued. "Plus only two of the cities destroyed were in US territory, one went down in Russia and one in Germany," he finished, his eyes darkening as he remembered those events.

 

"They have also used the excuse that an actual terrorist cell blew up the last city to fall to the virus, as a warning to our government's intrusion into their country," Barry broke in, his face showing the anger he felt. "Most people wouldn't believe the truth anyway, to them zombies only exist in the movies, there is only one slight good point to this in that a lot of the survivors join us in opposing Umbrella, as bad as that sounds," he added with a shake of his head.

 

"So how wide spread is Umbrella?" Connor inquired.

 

"They are in nearly every European country, plus some others, including ties in Mexico, Africa and Japan," Chris answered. "At least those are the ties we know of, there could be a lot more," he stressed.

 

"Look out," Methos shouted, before he pushed Chris out of the way of a lunging dog, which had come out of a side ally they just passed.

 

Chris rolled with the push and quickly came back up, as Connor lashed out with his sword, cutting into the infected dog, but not killing it. It tried to charge at Jill, but she managed to shoot it in the head dead on as it came.

 

Victoria looked frozen, as she stared at the dead infected animal and looked like she wanted to believe this was all some terrible nightmare, but they were sure inside she already knew this was as real as it came.

 

"Damn bloody alleys," Claire cursed as she checked on her brother, who assured her he was okay thanks to Methos. "Is there no other way of getting through this town?" she inquired.

 

"No, remember we already checked the blue prints to this town, before we came," Leon reminded her. "Unlike in some of the other cities Umbrella set up, this one has no hidden secrets, bar the two labs which caused the outbreak in the first place," he continued. "This place was supposed to be just for small research into the virus, to maybe make more variants of the virus itself or even combine the T and G viruses together in one strain. Nothing like weapons research was going on here, so they did not feel they needed any hidden entrances and exits," he concluded.

"Well we're going to have to be more on guard as we go, otherwise one of us is going to get their head ripped off, if we are not careful," Claire shot back a little agitated.

 

"We'll tighten our formation, but that is the best we can do for now," Chris said, placing a comforting hand on his sister's shoulder and squeezing it a little, until she nodded and regained control of herself. "Jill, we did bring the maps with us didn't we?" he asked.

 

"Yes we did," Jill replied. "Rebecca has them in her pack," she reminded them.

 

A small pause followed before Chris shook his head in annoyance at himself for forgetting such a fact, before moving over and turning Rebecca around to search through her pack. He soon found the three maps they had brought stashed up against some other stuff and retrieved them. Xander kept a close eye out as they remained stationary. For some reason he was beginning to feel uneasy, as if they were being watched, but he could see nothing nearby. Jenny noted his unease and moved closer to him, he quickly calmed down, as her presence helped him concentrate.

 

"Ok, we keep going straight on for now," Chris ordered. "A few blocks down we'll be taking a right turn to what I hope will a small shopping area, where we can grab some supplies," he added, before he began moving again.

 

"Can the virus affect food and drink?" Jenny asked Rebecca.

 

"Only if it is food left out in the open, things in tins and packets will be fine as will most packed sweets and crisp," Rebecca replied. "It is the same with most drink sources, if they are left out or the water supply itself is tainted, then yes it can be affected, but most bottles of pop and canned drinks will be safe," she added.

 

"How do you know that for sure?" Xander asked from her other side.

 

"In Russian we lost most of our supplies in the air drop and from being attacked soon after touching down, so we were forced to eat such things to survive as we did not escape the town for five days," Rebecca answered with a strained smile. "It was a risk, but our strength was dropping and so I decided one of us had to do it and so I did it without telling any of the others. I suffered no side effects and so I gave the go ahead to the others," she explained. "They were furious with me for risking my neck like that, especially Chris who views me as another sister, but I just responded it was worth it, if it kept us all alive," she concluded.

 

Xander was very impressed with Rebecca's wiliness to sacrifice herself for her comrades. He knew he would do the exact same thing without a second thought in a similar situation. Jenny noticed his expression and could tell to a point what he was thinking. She too was quite impressed by the younger woman's actions.

 

"We rescued fifty people from the city, whilst another hundred made it out on their own," Rebecca continued her story, as Jill fell in beside them to listen as well. "Think about an average size of a city and you can see just how much a cost it is not to try and stop Umbrella," she said with determination. "So many died because the people in charge of that company are nothing but greedy a moral assholes," she spat. "I hate every last one of them," she stated.

 

Xander and Jenny exchanged horrified looks at the thought of how many people must have died in each of the cities destroyed by the virus outbreaks of Umbrella. It was numbers that truly boggled the mind and made them sick to think about. It seemed no matter where they turned, they found another aspect of death and destruction closing in on them from things they had no real grasp of.

 

First there had been the vampires and demons threat, which had seemed at the time the worst thing they could imagine. Then they had been killed and come back as immortals and after meeting Connor and Methos they found out what truly awaited them in their new way of life. Now they discovered a human threat that almost seemed to dwarf the other points entirely, what was next they thought?

 

Xander shook his head as they continued deeper into the doomed city. He tried to keep his mind focused on the here and now, but slowly his memories again caught up to him. He remembered the night they confronted Buffy and the gang, alongside Kendra and Sam Zabuto, a night that forever changed his path and led to his relationship with Jenny in the end.

 

+++

 

(Flashback, Sunnydale High School)

 

Xander was a little nervous, as he approached the library alongside Jenny, Kendra and Sam Zabuto. He knew that the meeting that was about to take place was most likely going to be explosive, but as Jenny had pointed out, it needed to happen.

 

Anything they could do to ensure Angelus was finally removed was a good thing. They had already discussed their belief that forcing Buffy to kill Angelus would be punishment enough for the blond haired slayer. Kendra had quickly agreed that it would be a fitting punishment for her sister slayer, whilst Mr. Zabuto was a little skeptical, but he had relented as he did not truly want to be responsible for a slayer's death. He was one of the newer watchers, who felt they should be more lenient and understanding of Slayers, unlike the older view of them being nothing more than weapons.

 

Now as they approached the door, he began to get a little more nervous. He shook that off and concentrated on just keeping control of himself, as they entered the library.

 

Inside Buffy was pacing up and down, whilst Giles was seated at the table along with Oz, Willow and Cordelia. They all looked up as they entered. Buffy looked ready to rip their heads off, but she seemed to control herself just barely when Giles quickly stood up and moved to her side. A small silence descended on them, before Mr. Zabuto began the meeting.

 

"I thank you all for coming and whilst I know you are not exactly happy with our presence here, I think you know in reality it is a very good thing we are here," he stated. "Now I am sure Miss Summers that Mr. Giles has already told you of my threat should you fail to listen and agree to my terms, so you know I am not messing around," he went on seriously.

 

"Who do you think you are?" Buffy spat, finally lashing out with her own fear, anger and frustration.

 

"I am a Watcher Miss Summers and not one who will be led around by you. Had you been raised by the Council, this would never have happened," Mr. Zabuto responded "You have brought this on yourself Miss Summers by refusing to do your duty in destroying a horrible scourge, who is currently killing everything it encounters, as well as most likely turning quite a few of them," he continued. "Now you will join Kendra in the hunt for not only Angelus, but Spike and his paramour Drusilla and aid in their destruction with the help of everyone in this room or I will carry out my threat. Do you understand me?" he demanded moving so he was standing over her.

 

Buffy wanted to glare up at him and vent her fury at him and especially at Xander and Miss Calendar, who she knew had bought all of this to this point, but Giles had already explained the deadly situation she was now in. Kendra's Watcher was not lying about informing the Council of her actions, if she refused and it would lead to her death. She did not want to die and she knew no matter how much she wanted to deny it, that Angel was gone for good.

 

She had let him go at the mall in the slim hope that they could come up with a way of bringing his soul back, but they had failed in every way. People were dying and she knew that, but she still had held out. Now she was out of options, thanks to Miss Calendar and Xander's actions. To save her own life and that of the others, because Giles could not guarantee that the Council would not extract some sort of revenge out of them, for their part in her leaving Angelus alone.

 

"I understand," she gritted out. "I'll do what you want, but after that I never want to see Xander or Miss Calendar here again or you for that matter," she added.

 

Sam Zabuto glared at her, but nodded his head, as for now it was a start, but if she thought he would accede to her wishes, she was fooling herself. He would ensure before he left here, that Buffy Summers obeyed the Council in all things.  
5\. Chapter 5  
Resident Evil - Immortal Survival Chapter 5

 

(Rockville, Indiana)

Xander was beginning to get a little annoyed at their slow progress. He had suggested they find some means of transportation to get them out faster.

 

Chris however had countered that would lower their chances of finding survivors, which was the main reason they had come.

 

He could understand that, as he wanted to rescue anyone they could but the large amount of zombies or other monsters they were encountering was annoying.

 

So far they had found seven survivors, all of whom were not infected. There was one problem though, as the more people they found and rescued the more tempting a target they became. It was also harder to defend themselves from attack.

 

So far they had been lucky that they had not been hit by a large pack of demons or something really big and dangerous. He was also wondering if there were any vampires in the town at the moment.

 

He paused as he again felt they were being watched by someone or something and he quickly spun around and took a quick look, but he could see nothing. He hoped he was just getting a little paranoid. He turned back to see Jenny taking down another zombie as Jill covered her flank.

 

Clearly the more people who died in the city the more danger they would encounter later on. Their situation was not exactly great he thought, as they finally approached the shopping area Chris had mentioned. He just hoped that a gun shop was a part of it. They needed ammo and more weapons, especially for the people they were now guarding. It was best if they could defend themselves in case they either got separated or were busy fighting other things.

 

"Ok, we're here," Chris stated, as they stopped just on the perimeter of the shopping center. "We need food and supplies we can use, so make sure they are bagged and have not been exposed before you take them," he reminded them and looked at the new comers, as his team mates knew this anyway. "I am hoping there is a gun store around here, so keep your eyes open for it," he added before being cut off.

 

"The gun store is not here, Chris," Victoria spoke up. She had recovered a bit from the shock of seeing her boyfriend killed by something that had once only existed in a horror film. "It is in the main shopping district, all you will find here is a hardware store that sells ammo," she continued.

 

"That will do for now," Chris responded somewhat annoyed at learning that.

"Barry, Leon you check that store out and grab what you can," he ordered. "Ok let's go," he stated, as he turned and headed off towards the first shop followed by the others.

 

Xander did not like this. Inside they would be in confined spaces which would put them at a disadvantage in a fight. However he knew they really did need supplies.

 

As he moved he couldn't help but to think of how Buffy and the group would react to this situation, had they been here. He was sure Buffy would be so over confident she could fight everything she'd soon end up dead. Her over confidence was one of the biggest negative traits she had. It had shown when she had been ordered to spar with Kendra.

 

She had been so sure she would beat the younger slayer with ease and instead had ended up on the ground in seconds, with Kendra's knee imbedded in her back. As he thought of that event his mind drifted again, as Jenny moved to his side and noted he was thinking again about the past. She guessed that as Immortals the past would be a constant of their lives.

 

+++

 

(Flashback, Sunnydale High School)

 

Xander noted the shocked looks on Willow, Cordelia and Oz's faces, as Buffy was defeated in under a minute by the younger slayer. It had looked almost easy to him. Kendra's style was brutal and quick and had none of the flair Buffy liked to use. He noted the amused look in Jenny's eyes at the spectacle and sighed.

 

He knew the chances of reuniting the group after all this was over was now slim to none, but a small part of him still wished he had not been forced to take this action.

 

Kendra soon backed off and allowed Buffy to jump back to her feet and they all watched, as Buffy quickly attacked again. Her face clearly showed she did not like being shown up and she was quickly put in a wrist lock and flipped onto her back again.

 

Mr. Zabuto quickly stepped in and stopped the match. He looked a little let down by Buffy's display, whilst Giles was shaking his head in dismay.

 

"If that is the best you can do Miss Summers, then I fear greatly for you continued survival," Mr. Zabuto stated, clearly not impressed. "You attacked without even trying to size up your enemy or even consider to attack her weak points first," he told her and ignored her angered look. "What have you been teaching this girl, Mr. Giles?" he asked as he turned around to face his fellow watcher.

 

Giles looked a little off balance and annoyed at the implications he had not been doing his job, but he quickly rallied. "I have trained her in multiple disciplines and also how to evaluate an enemy and situation," he replied and tried not to mention that Buffy rarely took her training seriously, as she was confident she could beat anything she encountered or she would rather spent her time with her friends and before he lost his soul, with Angel rather than to spent it training.

 

"I do not think it was taken on board," Mr. Zabuto responded with a sigh. "I will not send my slayer out with Miss Summers being so ill prepared," he stated.

 

For the next two hours they group watched as Mr. Zabuto tested Buffy and he pushed her to do better than her first attempts. Kendra easily kept pace with her and by the end was still wide awake, whilst Buffy seemed almost dead on her feet. Xander could tell Zabuto was not pleased, as Buffy was way behind Kendra in her training.

 

Giles did his best to fill in what he had already gone over with Buffy. However her lack of skill in those areas showed that, whilst she had been trained in it, she had not worked on it to progress and improve her skill.

 

She was chewed out by a very annoyed Mr. Zabuto who made it clear that over the next week all she would do was improve her skills in the fighting areas she knew, until she could match Kendra during sparring matches. Buffy tried to protest, but was quickly overridden.

 

The night ended with Buffy storming out of the library glaring briefly in their direction before followed by the gang. Giles also quickly left after he had a face to face with Zabuto. Once it was just them they all sat down at the table.

 

"It would seem your report was accurate Mr. Harris," Mr. Zabuto admitted with a sigh. "I would have expected a slayer who had survived four years to be advanced in nearly all areas of combat that she studied and have a wide range of knowledge on demon and vampire skills and weaknesses," he stated.

 

"But she is seems to be lacking in many areas and her fighting skills, whilst good, are not what they should be. No offense to Kendra, but she should not have been a match for Miss Summers," he explained with a small glance at his Slayer, who did not look insulted just let down by Buffy's actions.

 

"She spent a lot of time she should have been training at the Bronze or with Angel and whilst I am partly to blame for allowing her to do it, as well as Willow and the others, it wasn't our job to make her take it seriously," Xander reluctantly admitted. "I guess we got carried away with the success we've had so far and wanting to ensure Buffy had a good life, apart from being a slayer," he explained the groups reasoning. "It did not accrue to me at the time that it was doing her and the town harm," he said with a shake of his head.

 

"It was indeed not your job to ensure Miss Summers did her job, as well as take her training seriously," Mr. Zabuto agreed. "And whilst I understand your groups desire that Miss Summers has a life outside that of being a Slayer, I am afraid she and Kendra can never truly leave it behind.

 

It is a sad fact that in time all Slayers die," he stated, with a sad smile directed at Kendra. "The oldest Slayer was twenty years old when she died and that happened sometime during the early 1900's. I am not against a Slayer trying to have a life, as well as doing her duty, but what I have seen here goes far beyond that," he concluded. "The time lost in making sure Miss Summers is up to date and ready to back Kendra will ensure that more people will die. That is bad and there will be an accounting when this is over," he swore.

 

Xander and Jenny exchanged glances as they came to understand how badly Giles had allowed Buffy to slack off. It had never accrued to them that by trying to help her have a life, they were adding to the mistakes Giles made. If they had looked deeper they would have noted how badly things were and maybe could have talked Giles into regaining some control, before it got to this point. It was no wonder Angelus had such a big advantage.

 

Buffy should be his match or even better, considering she had been active for four years. Instead she seemed to be at a level a Slayer would be in after only a year. She had allowed herself to fall behind either in her blind rush to try to get away from being a Slayer or in her desire to have a relationship with Angel, at the expense of everything else. Sadly they had helped it to happen.

 

As they left the school, once Jenny had locked it down, he wondered if Buffy would be capable of killing Angelus when the time came. He hoped so, as no matter what had passed between them, he did not want her to die.

 

+++

 

(Rockville, Indiana)

 

Xander quickly came out of his memories, as he heard the moaning of a nearby zombie in the same shop he was currently in. He noted Jenny was still with him and was also keeping a close eye out.

 

Moving down the row he kept his sword at the ready and a few seconds later the zombie jumped at him as he cleared the row. He was knocked to the ground, but he quickly used what Methos had taught him and flung the zombie of, before he rolled back to his feet and grabbed his sword again.

 

Jenny came up the other side and they quickly attacked at the same time, just as the zombie was getting back up and cut it into three pieces.

 

Trying to ignore the decaying face of the zombie, as he continued his search he thought back to the past again. That first meeting had been a beginning he recalled.

 

Buffy had slowly come back into what she had been during the first couple of months he had known her, a brilliant fighter. She quickly regained her edge, much to Zabuto's and Giles' relief. The whole group also began training for the fight to come, however he and Jenny trained away from the others, as the damage done within the group was just too big to bridge. He hadn't cared by that point and just concentrated on doing everything he could to make sure he could help when the time came to hunt Angelus.

 

He had no idea he would die within the next three days trying to save Jenny from Angelus and the beast he had hired to aid him, it was unlike anything he had seen before.

 

It had killed both Jenny and him and it was not a quick death. Angelus made sure of that. By the end neither of them could even cry out in pain, they were numb to it all. Angelus hadn't bothered to try and turn them and allowed the monster to finish them off. They revived the next day still in their bloody clothes, unaware at the time of what they had become.

 

"Alex," Jenny's voice snapped him out of his thoughts and he noticed her concerned gaze.

 

"I'm ok, Jenny," he assured her with a small smile. "I was just thinking of our first death," he said, noting the dark look this caused on his lover's face.

 

He knew she still hated to really think of that time, as the torture they had endured had been terrible and not something you could easily get over, it haunted them both still. He knew Jenny believed that had Buffy done her job, they might never have died. It was possible he thought, but sometimes things had to happen.

 

Their deaths and rebirths had changed the course of their lives and helped in ending the threat of Angelus once and for all. However it had also been the final straw between them and Buffy and the gang.

 

Once it became clear what had happened to them, through an explanation from Giles and Zabuto, Buffy had made it even clearer she did not want them around.

 

Having been forced to kill Angelus she had vented her rage and hatred at them. Considering what information Giles and Zabuto had on what they had become they had decided to leave. Their time in Sunnydale was over and they had new lives to live. Their last meeting with Kendra and Zabuto had informed them they were heading back home, now that the Sunnydale situation had been dealt with.

 

"It's funny how much our lives have changed since then," Jenny said the dark look still very much in her eyes. "I once thought I'd never make it out of Sunnydale alive, granted I didn't make it out without dying at least once, but still considering what we've done since then," she looked at him and cocked her head to one side. "Do you regret coming after me?" she asked.

 

He quickly stepped forward and pulled her into a deep kiss which she eagerly returned before they pulled away and locked eyes. "Never... Yes, I died horribly in coming after you, but it was worth it," he told her. "I love you and that will never change, I will always come for you," he promised.

 

Jenny smiled before she kissed him again. She pulled away again as sounds of gunfire alerted them to danger, they quickly rushed out of the shop they had been searching and saw Rebecca and Jill fire into a group of zombies approaching from the north. They quickly joined them and began firing as well.

 

Leon and Claire soon joined them as well.

 

Only a few made it close enough to them, so that Connor and Methos who had come to see what the problem was quickly rushed in and began to cut the zombies down, it was soon over.

 

"We need to keep moving," Methos growled, not liking the growing danger the situation caused.

 

Immortals can suffer all sorts of damage and still be assured of coming back to life, but from what he had seen here it was possible they could suffer enough damage that they may not be able to come back to life and that worried him.

 

He had lived for over 5000 years and he intended to keep living for as long as he was able. They need to pick up the pace and try to find a truck or van. That way they could still rescue any survivors and keep moving fast, he headed back into another store and continued to look for supplies.

 

Outside Connor was busy discussing what they should do once they had found their supplies, as some of the survivors they had saved came out with supplies they had found. Rebecca began to check what they had found to ensure none of it had been exposed to the virus. Claire remained on guard duty with Xander and Jenny, whilst Leon went back to help Barry locate the ammo they needed.

 

Soon they all met up outside the shops looking over five new packs they had filled with food, drink, ammo and some medical supplies. Xander separated the packs between himself and the survivors. They headed east after checking the map to ensure they were going in the right direction, as they moved Jenny couldn't help, but to think back to earlier times.

 

+++

 

(Flashback, Sunnydale)

 

Jenny relaxed on her sofa and was wondering when Mr. Zabuto would consider Buffy to be ready to start hunting Angelus. It had been two days since the confrontation between both groups. Since then Zabuto had pushed Buffy through all sorts of training to increase her skill. Kendra and the rest of them also trained so they could all help.

 

It was tiring work, but she deemed it helpful to bring Angelus down once and for all. She knew Xander was beginning to get a little frustrated with her for trying to get him to break his hope in reuniting the group, but she was determined to succeed.

 

She would try again tomorrow and hope he listened to her. Part of the problem that was now surfacing was the growing feelings that existed between them. At this moment in time a relationship was out of the question and not just because she was supposed to be his teacher, they still had a lot to learn about each other and she also wanted to be sure this was not just a rebound effect after Rupert had thrown their relationship away.

 

She sighed, as she closed her eyes and tried to think of what she could say or do, which would get through to Xander. His time as part of Buffy's group was over. She was sure of that, but he would not let go just yet. She understood why, but it was best that he accepted what was truly going on. It would hurt less she believed.  
6\. Chapter 6  
Resident Evil - Immortal Survival

Chapter 6

 

(Rockville, Indiana)

 

Xander ducked the wild swings of whatever kind of creature he was currently fighting. To him it looked like some kind of mutated wild animal, maybe something that had gotten into the city during the outbreak, but whatever it was it was strong.

 

Jenny, Rebecca and Jill were off to the side and were currently fighting of some zombies and some infected dogs. They had been separated from the others during the attack.

 

Chris had recognized they were to vulnerable where they were against so many and ordered them to run. They had run, but as they did so, they had turned the wrong corner and ended up lost.

 

Lucky for them Jill and Rebecca both had radios with them and so were still in communication with Chris and the others. Methos had berated him over the line for allowing himself to go the wrong way. Just what Xander had expected from the man, Methos was a hard teacher and expected the best from his students, whilst Connor was the more understanding one. Combined as they had been, they made an excellent way of teaching new immortals to survive.

 

He ducked another swing and lashed out with his katana cutting it across the chest, but it did little to slow the thing down one bit.

 

Jenny was moving in and out of the range of zombies attacking them. She was cutting them down with ease with her short sword, as they were slow and clumsy, whilst she was doing that Jill and Rebecca took out the attacking infected dogs, which continued to charge at them. However what they had to be careful of was not running out of ammo for their guns, Rebecca was not worried about being split from the rest of her team, as she had at least Jill with her and that was more than she'd had back in the Spencer Mansion, until she met Chris. Jill was forced to roll out of the way of one of the last of the attacking dogs and quickly turned and unloaded two rounds from her shotgun and watched the dog go down, as the bullets struck its head and neck.

 

+++

 

Five blocks down Chris led the rest of the group, plus the survivors who were now all armed into a deserted building. They needed a rest and plan an attempt to regroup with the others. As the various survivors slid down the walls and tried to forget the horrors they had seen Chris, Connor and Leon got the maps out and tried to work out where to meet up with the others. Barry, Methos, Claire and two other survivors who were not tired took up look out positions.

 

"From their last radio message I think they are here," Leon said and pointed to a place on the map and then trailed it down to their position within the city.

 

"That's a long way," Connor said with a shake of his head. "Granted, running from that horde was the only option we had, but it has split us up and sadly we are not going to rejoin anytime soon," he added. "There could be anything waiting for us between us and them and most likely something we are not expecting, so I suggest we tell them to head to the shopping district on their own and we will meet them there," he suggested.

 

"That is a risky suggestion as they are only four," Chris pointed out, although most of himself agreed with the idea.

 

They had to ensure the safety of the survivors they had found already, which was their mission. Jill and Rebecca would understand this and Connor would not have suggested such a move unless he had complete confidence in Xander and Jenny to survive. Leon did not look very convinced, but he did not see any easy options of getting to their cut off friends, every way to them would no doubt be full of viscous monsters and zombies and they would loose people and that was not acceptable.

 

"Are we sure there is no other way to them that may be clear of the infected?" Methos inquired, as he passed them, having overheard what they had said.

 

"We're sure," Chris said and wished it wasn't so, but he saw no other way.

 

+++

 

Five blocks back Xander continued his fight with the creature, as Jenny took down the last zombie by bringing her sword up and splitting it right up the middle. Jill and Rebecca were currently reloading their weapons after killing the last of the infected dogs.

 

He lashed out with his katana again and cut deep into its side, which caused it to roar in pain and Jenny turned and shoved her short sword into its back. This gave him the chance to quickly pull his katana out and swipe it right across the things neck as deep as it could go.

 

For a few seconds the creature remained standing, before it fell to the ground admitting one last roar. Jenny quickly shoved her sword into the things brain to ensure it was really dead. They quickly took a look around their surroundings, but saw no more infected heading their way. In fact there was an eerie silence which seemed to descend on the city, which made the atmosphere all the more tense for them.

 

"You okay?" Xander asked, as he looked around again, while he was trying to see which way they should go. 

 

"We're fine," Rebecca assured him with a small smile, as she finished reloading her weapons. "Now we just have to find Chris and the others," she added.

 

The radio crackling to life made them all jump a little. Jill pulled hers from her belt and keyed in the code for it before she answered, knowing it had to be either Chris or one of her other team mates.

 

"Jill, listen we've been going over the maps and as far as we can see there is no easy way for us to rejoin each other," Chris' voice said, as it came in clear. "If we attempt to meet up from where we are right now all it is going to do is risk the survivors we've found, so we've decided to meet up at the shopping district, we are confident you guys can make it there on your own," he explained.

 

Jill looked around at her three companions and noted their various expressions, Rebecca seemed concerned, but she clearly agreed with Chris's statement. She knew Rebecca was more concerned about the survivor's well being than her own, as a medic that was large part of who she was and it was a part of her, Jill admired a lot. She had always been impressed with the S.T.A.R.S rookie since the day she had met her back in Racoon City. At first she had felt the nineteen year old was too young, but she had proved herself able to handle things, the older more experienced members had trouble with.

 

She had formed a solid friendship with the younger girl after the Spencer Mansion incident and she had come to trust her beyond most others as they got on so well. Chris, Barry and Leon all treated the younger girl either like a daughter or a sister, but she and Claire however viewed her as just their friend, something she knew Rebecca enjoyed being.

 

Turning to Xander she noted he did not look that bothered by what Chris had said. She had noted so far that he seemed somewhat distracted at times, most likely by his past, but he was alert enough to not be caught off guard to much. He was confident in his skills as well as the skills of his friends, especially Jenny's. She was sure the two were an item and a very strongly entwined one. She somewhat envied them that as since this nightmare had begun she'd had no such companionship and neither had Rebecca or Chris. She knew Leon and Claire were seeing each other and Barry of course was married with two kids, although they were in hiding right now.

 

She finally turned to look at Jenny and noted that she was slightly more concerned by this plan than Xander was, but she did not speak up against it. Jenny seemed to be a strong woman and ready for things to take a turn for the worst. That slightly troubled her and made her wonder what the two people before her had been through before they had come to this city, it also intrigued her, but for now she pushed the thoughts from her mind.

 

She also noted Jenny was concerned by Xander's lapses into the past, but she also seemed to expect it and made sure to be close by when it happened, they were a true couple. Finally she turned back to what Chris had said and decided it was the best option they had to not endanger the survivors they had already found.

 

"We hear you Chris and we agree," she finally responded. "We can't risk the survivors' lives that way. We'll meet you at the shopping district," she continued. "Be careful," she added after a brief silence.

 

"I hear you Jill and don't worry, we'll be careful," Chris replied. "I suggest you be doubly careful," he cautioned and they all detected the worry in his tone.

 

"Don't worry Chris, we'll be fine," Jill assured him. "I think we'll make a good team, as a smaller group is likely not to attract as much attention or at least I hope so," she informed him. "I'll see you soon," she added before sighing off.

 

Xander was again impressed by Jill's confidence and lack of fear, oh he was sure she felt fear, but she managed to contain and control it, so it did not show on her face. He agreed with her view of the situation, they could make it and as the smaller group they would hopefully be able to get to the meeting place without running into to much trouble. He quickly went and retrieved his fallen Berrettas and placed them back in his belt. He knew they would need all the weapons they had on hand to get through all this without loosing anyone.

 

"I suggest we get going," he said, while he turned to the others. "We can't stay in one place for to long," he added as he took off.

 

"At least we still have one of the maps for the city," Rebecca remarked. "So we can tell which way we're going," she continued as she quickly followed Xander.

 

Jill nodded in agreement with that statement, as Jenny moved ahead of her and so she brought up the rear. She made sure to keep a close eye on their backs, so nothing could try to sneak up on them.

 

"We should at least look for a place to have a quick rest," Jenny suggested, as they went. "We could all do with a break," she added with a meaningful look at Xander's back.

 

Xander could feel the look of his lover and knew why she had suggested that. His flashbacks were becoming an issue and he needed to get them under control. Not an easy thing to do he thought, he'd had trouble dealing with them since he had first been killed. He didn't know exactly why he could not stop them surfacing, but Connor had told him it had happened to a few immortals he knew after they'd had their first death.

 

"I'll keep an eye out for somewhere," he responded, knowing Jenny was just worried and he knew, considering their situation, being distracted by flashbacks was not such a great idea.

 

+++

 

(Sunnydale)

 

Buffy walked into the magic shop Giles had bought. She was depressed and slightly annoyed, as the day had been long and full of problems. She tried to get accustomed to been at college and thought back to the trials of facing off against the Mayor and his goal of ascension helped along by Faith, a Slayer who had lost her way. Faith had become active when Kendra had almost been killed by a vampire called Alic.

 

According to the reports Giles had received, Zabuto had managed to restart Kendra's heart and then get her to a nearby hospital. For the next four days Kendra had been very close to death, but she had finally come around and started to heal, but as she had been dead for a few moments it had been enough to call the next Slayer in the line. This of course brought back memories she wished she could ignore of her own death and the fact she owned her life to Xander, her former friend who she still hated to the dept of her soul.

 

Having three Slayers active at the same time had caused some trouble for the council, according to Giles, but now Faith lay in a coma and if she awoke, Giles had sworn to try and help the girl come to terms with the darkness in her life.

 

Buffy was slightly against this, considering how close Faith had come to killing her, but she could not go against her watcher. Zabuto's rules were still in effect from his visit here where he made sure she dealt with Angelus. The pain of that made her want to lash out, but she controlled herself.

 

As she entered she noted Willow, Oz, Tara and Giles were already inside the shop and were talking around the table, whilst watching the TV Giles had installed. Tara was a new friend and ally in the fight and one she was still weary off, as she reminded her of Xander in a lot of ways.

 

They had another two new friends helping them, but they were not in attendance yet, that was Amy Madison and Jonathan Levison. Both had gotten fully involved in the fight during the beginning of their last year in school. Amy after almost being killed by an insane warlock, whilst Jonathan during a rather chaotic time when he had stumbled upon a bunch of zombies trying to blow up the school, when they were trying to prevent the Hellmouth from being opened by the sisterhood of Jhe.

 

Angel had also been once again a part of the team when he was brought back by the mysterious Powers that Be. However there was no rebirth of their relationship, as Giles had made sure of that. Zabuto had also returned to ensure she did not even attempt at rebuilding the relationship behind Giles' back by reminding her, what would happen if she did. This of course had made her hate Kendra's watcher all the more, but there was nothing she could do about it, so no matter how much she had wanted to get back together with Angel, she did not dare to attempt it.

Angel too seemed to have been warned away from her by someone, as he had very little to do with her, except help on patrols. He had left after they had dealt with the Mayor and his plans.

 

She did not know where he had gone although he had mentioned something about LA, but his leaving had reopened the old wounds from his time as Angelus and she was still dealing with it now. Willow was trying to get her involved with a young man they had met a few days ago called Riley Finn, but she was hesitant to fully explore that path just yet.

 

"Hey Buffy," Willow's voice broke her out of her thoughts and she turned to her friend noting the tense and worried looks they all had on their faces.

 

"What's going on?" she asked as she joined them at the table.

 

"The news had just reported that the city of Rockville Indiana has been barricaded from the outside," Tara answered. "Something about a toxic spill or some kind of outbreak, no one is completely sure yet what has happened," she informed them.

 

"All there is known is that the entire city has fallen into chaos and all lines of communication are down," Oz put in.

 

Buffy stared at them all and wondered if they suspected demonic interference within the city. She guessed it was a possibility, but she did not see what they could do about it.

 

"Any word from the council, Giles?" she inquired turning to her watcher.

 

"Not yet I'm afraid, however I have spoken to them about this and they are attempting to send a team in to find out what is going on," Giles explained, while removing his glasses and polished them on his jumper as he no longer wore his tweed suit. "I do not expect we will have much to do during this crisis, but it is possible they may call on us if needed," he cautioned them.

 

"Well let's hope they don't call us in then," Buffy replied, as she did not look forward to going into another city overrun by demons and vampires.

 

The others looked between themselves before they nodded in agreement, as none of them felt they would be able to do much in such a large area, if it was indeed vampire and demon related. Buffy leaned back in her chair and wondered briefly where the exiled Xander and Miss Calendar were and if maybe they had been caught up in the madness of Rockville. Thinking of the two reminded her how much she still hated them and blamed them for taking Angel from her. She wondered if there would ever be a time when she would forgive their actions.

 

"How is Kendra doing?" she asked, trying to think of anything else than the past.

 

"From my last conversation with Mr Zabuto she is still recovering from her close call with death," Giles answered. "As with your own close brush the emotional scars have had far more effect on her than the physical wounds Alic left her with. She is currently seeing a councilor in the employ of the council to help her cope with what happened," he explained.

 

"How come I didn't get one of those when I died and was brought back?" Buffy demanded to know, annoyed by this piece of information.

 

Giles sighed at the question, because to him the answer should have been obvious to his charge. "Buffy you left Sunnydale to spend time with you father almost a day after that event. When you returned three months later you did not ask for any such thing or show any signs of an emotional breakdown," he explained his reasoning.

 

"Oh," was all Buffy could say in response, as she knew Giles was spot on. She remained quite and looked at the TV that was announcing another update on the Rockville crisis.

 

+++

 

(Rockville, Indiana)

 

Xander sat in the abandoned house they had found and just listened to the conversation Jenny and Jill were having about the virus which was responsible for this mess. Rebecca was asleep with her head actually resting on his lap. Jenny had been amused by the younger girl's actions and his initial unease, but considering the mess the place was in he did not blame her, as he leaned his head against the wall he wondered if news of what had happened here had spread to the rest of the country and especially Sunnydale.

 

For some reason he could not help but wonder what his former friends would think of this situation. He wondered if they had any idea he and Jenny were right in the middle of this thing. He sighed and relaxed a bit more as he felt Rebecca move a little, clearly trying to get more comfortable, as he began to drift off he felt himself once again fall into the past.

 

+++

 

(Flashback, Sunnydale)

 

Xander lay once again in the bed of Jenny Calendar, but this time his mind was not on the fact that he had just made lover to Jenny, no this time his mind was still trying to come to terms with the fact that he had been killed and yet somehow still lived just as did Jenny, who lay beside them.

 

They had been captured and killed by Angelus and a beast he had brought with them. Their torture had been a long and agonized one before they had finally been mercifully killed. Yet hours later they had both somehow revived and made their way back here. They had showered and changed clothes and were now trying to work out what had happened to them and how they were alive again.

 

"Why?" Jenny asked him, her voice was quiet and full of confusion.

 

"I don't know Jenny," he replied. "I know for a fact we were dead, but somehow here we are," he said, while he ran his hand through her hair trying to keep her calm. "It could have been anything, but one thing I do know is we are not vampires. They didn't turn us and for that we should be thankful," he continued.

 

Jenny nodded her head in agreement as that was a nightmare worse than death. She had been afraid of such a fate more than once since coming to the Hellmouth and especially once Angelus had been released of his cage. She had been a fool and tried to recreate the spell that had originally ensouled Angelus and turned him into Angel and even more than that, she was stupid for using the school computer for that at night.

 

As a public place there was no barrier keeping vampires out and so it had been easy for Angelus to get inside and come after her. Xander realized what she had been up to and had come after here and had ended up being captured along with her and all ended in a very agonizing death. This more than anything made her more upset, her folly had led to getting Xander killed alongside her. That was almost more than she could handle, but he had assured her that he did not care and that it was worth it.

 

"Maybe Rupert and Mr. Zabuto can help us," she suggested, although the idea had little appeal to her where it concerned her former boyfriend.

 

"I guess we'll have to tell them what happened to us," Xander said, after he considered the idea, like Jenny he did not like the idea, but he saw very few options open to them to learn what had happened to them. "But not yet, we need more time to come to terms with what has happened," he continued.

 

"Considering the tenuous alliance we now have with the others, we best not say a thing that could shatter it for now. Things are dangerous enough as they are," he reminded her.

 

"You're right. Buffy will probably try and use this to keep us out of the group entirely," Jenny concluded. "She is looking for anything she can use against us for what we have done," she added and placed her head on his chest, as he continued to stroke his fingers through her hair.

 

"What we have done Jenny, had to be done," Xander replied. "I know that now, nothing else could have been done to make Buffy take action, so we had to bring Kendra and her watcher in," he explained and closed his eyes. "She had to be forced to take action and now she has. She can hate us all she wants, as long as Angelus and his lackeys are killed and Sunnydale is made a bit safer," he stated.

"You know when this is over, we will have to leave?" Jenny finally said after a long silence had descended on them. "We can no longer stay here," she added.

 

"I know," Xander answered and opened his eyes again, locking his gaze with hers. "I was hoping we could stay together when we do leave," he told her, he hesitated only for a few seconds before he spoke that.

 

Jenny returned his gaze and saw he was truthful and slowly a small smile appeared on her face, whilst they had agreed to put aside their growing feelings for one another after making love, as now was not the time to deal with it. However this had changed everything and as she stared into his eyes and she saw his love for her. She leaned in and kissed him. A kiss he eagerly returned, when they broke they both shared another smile.

 

"I would like that," she finally replied and she felt somewhat better and calmer.

 

She closed her eyes and slowly drifted off into sleep, whilst Xander remained awake for some time wondering where they would go, before he decided it did not matter and soon he joined Jenny in sleep.

 

+++

 

(Rockville, Indiana)

 

Xander opened his eyes and looked across the room and noted Jenny and Jill were now trying to get some rest as well. He thought back to what he had just remembered and recalled that was the beginning of his and Jenny's relationship. A week later they had been forced to tell the others the truth of what had happened to them. That meeting had ended badly and although they had remained a part of the group until Angelus was destroyed. The day after that they had been told to leave.

 

He had not bothered to try and argue and left once he had made sure his mother Jessica had left the town and her dead beat husband behind, then he and Jenny had left as well and headed for LA first. They had exchanged contact numbers with Kendra and Zabuto, as they at least had remained on good terms with them. Sadly Kendra had almost died a couple of months ago in an incident, which reminded him of how the Master had killed Buffy for a few short moments, before he used CPR and brought her back.

 

As with Buffy's short death, Kendra's had activated another slayer as well, but so far he had heard nothing about the new one. He shook his head and looked down at Rebecca, who was still using his lap as a pillow. She seemed peaceful and so he remained in place, but he decided to stay awake and make sure nothing got the jump on them. He knew they could not stay here for long, but they needed this rest.

 

Five blocks away Chris and his team was also still resting, as the survivors were all tired and had difficulties in dealing with what was going on. Connor and Methos were on watch, whilst the others slept.

 

"Do you think we will make it?" Connor asked his companion.

 

"Can't say yet," Methos replied. "The more survivors we find, the more dangerous our path becomes," he added, as he looked out of the window.

 

"We can't just leave them here Methos. We have to save as many as we can," Connor replied, instantly knowing a part of his friend would believe that was the better option, although he would not follow it these days, as he was a better person than he had been.

 

"I know that Highlander," Methos responded, irritated by his friend's reply. "I was just stating a fact," he went on. "No, I think we have a good chance as long as we do not run into to much resistance from the infected on our way to the city border," he put forth his belief. "It is Alex and the others who will have it harder, even though they are a smaller unit and should not attract too much attention, but it is possible the smaller numbers will work against them," he warned.

 

"Let us hope not," Connor shot back, before a grin appeared on his face. "Remember Alex and Jenny seem to live a charmed life, so far they have faced off against some truly evil immortals and lived," he reminded him.

 

Methos nodded, as he could not fault Connor's statement. Even he had been impressed by how far the two had come. Having been challenged by some of the worst of their kind and they had somehow come out of it alive. They were good, but he wondered if their luck would hold. Then again he wondered if any of their luck would truly hold in this situation. ‘Was this to be their final battle?'' he asked himself.  
7\. Chapter 7  
Chapter 7

(Flashback, Sunnydale)

Xander entered the library with Jenny, thankful that at least to see that Buffy and the others were absent. Only Giles, Mr. Zabuto and Kendra were seated at the table. He had decided on bringing the watchers into what had happened to them. It may give them some answers and Jenny had reluctantly agreed. He just hoped this choice would not turn against them later on.

They ignored the look Giles sent them as they sat down. They were well used to it by now. Xander had grown to hate the anger and bitterness the others had thrown at them when they had forced this situation in the first place, especially Giles and Buffy. Instead of accepting their mistakes and taking responsibility for the results of those actions, they had instead tried to blame him and Jenny for the outcome. This had deadened any leftover good feelings he had for his former friends.

Jenny was long past caring about such things, she felt nothing about the others one way or another and was looking forward to leaving them and Sunnydale far behind, once this was over.

But now they had a far more troublesome situation to deal with and they were hoping that the watchers could help find out what had happened to them. Xander was also hoping Giles would keep this to himself. He did not want to see Buffy given another reason to hate and distrust them, until after Angelus and his followers were dealt with. He glanced at the man in question, but his look gave away nothing of what he was thinking.

"Is something wrong?" Kendra's voice broke the silence and made the two watchers focus on the two who had just joined them.

"I'm afraid so and what we have to say will sound strange, but it is the truth," Jenny responded, not looking forward to admitting the truth of what had happened. "I made a mistake and was working on the soul curse my people first used to curse Angelus all those years ago. The mistake was that I was doing this work at the school instead of at home and hence I was vulnerable," she began to explain.

"I found out about what she was up to and went to bring her back to her home safely, but I was too late," Xander picked up the story, running a hand though his hair, feeling sick as he relieved the awful memories this evoked within him. "We were captured," he stated.

"But you are both here and very much alive and it is still daylight so he clearly did you no harm," Giles responded, actually feeling some unease at the realization that his former lover and friend had come close to death.

"He didn't turn us Giles. He tortured us for hours on end alongside a beast he brought with him," Jenny all but shouted back in rage. "We suffered pain unlike any you can imagine, and when we could scream no more when it no longer amused him, he killed us," she spat, feeling dread and pain at just acknowledging the truth.

The two watchers and the slayer looked at each other first in surprise and then uncertainty. Granted the other thing that kept any of them from arguing the fact was that they knew many things could happen, including coming back from the dead. Mr. Zabuto immediately got up and headed to the books Giles kept and began to leaf through them for the ones on such matters. Kendra remained seated, seeing this as more proof of Buffy and her group's failure in doing their duty.

Giles got up and began to pace, feeling a mix of sick satisfaction that some kind of revenge had come down on Xander and Jenny for their actions, as well as pain and sadness that they had to go through such an experience at all.

"What we want to know is what are we now?" Xander spoke up again. "How did we come back?" he added.

"There are quite a few options Xander," Giles responded absently, his mind still trying to come to terms with this new twist. "Granted we know you are not vampires due to it still been daylight outside, but that still leaves other options to explore. Do you still have any scars or injuries of what Angelus did to you?" he inquired.

"No, they were all healed," Xander answered, after thinking back to that moment when he had come back to life. "I think even some of my older scars were gone," he added trying to recall everything.

Giles nodded and joined Mr. Zabuto in looking for useful books to help them find out what had happened. He wondered privately what Buffy and the others would say about this, once they find out about it.

He doubted he would be allowed to tell them for a while, as his fellow watcher was adamant about keeping their fragile alliance together, until the threat of Angelus was dealt with. 

"Can you identify the demon that Angelus is allied with?" Mr. Zabuto inquired as he set a few books down in front of them.

"I doubt I will ever forget its face," Jenny responded darkly, whilst Xander's gaze was best described as stone cold and almost made the watcher shiver.

They quickly began looking through the books they had been given, whilst Giles and Zabuto began to try and identify what had happened to them.

Kendra remained silent and did some more research on Angelus, Spike and Drusilla.

+++

(Rockville, Indiana)

Xander jerked awake and took a few deep breaths and then began to calm down, looking down he noted Rebecca was still using his legs as a pillow and had not woken up. Staring at the young woman made him see how peaceful she looked; he felt amazement again at what she had endured.

He then looked up and noted Jenny and Jill were sleeping soundly against each other, he grinned and shook his head at the sight. Checking his watch showed him that they had been here for two hours. He ran a hand through his hair and knew they would have to move soon. He pulled his radio out and carefully turned it on. He hoped Connor and the others had not gone too far from them while they had rested.

"Connor, you there?" he asked quietly so as not to wake the others.

"I'm here Alex," Connor's voice came back of the radio. "How are you guys doing?" he asked his young friend.

"We are still where we were last time we spoke with each other. We needed the rest," Xander answered while stifling a yawn.

"Roger that, so are we," Connor responded. "The people we rescued were in no shape to keep going, but we are going to have to push them in another ten to twenty minutes," he informed him.

"Yeah I know, we have still a lot of ground to cover and we do not know if the government will use the same method of containment as they had previously. You know, use a nuke to wipe the city and infection out," Xander stated closing his eyes and trying to ignore the images his mind supplied in retaliation to what he had said.

"Ay that is true," Connor said. "Methos says to head to the shopping district as soon as you can and wait for us to join you. Find any survivors you can, but do not go looking for them Alex," he added. "I know it sounds harsh man, but we do not have the time to do a sweep of this city, nor do we know if even we, as immortals, can survive this virus," he continued, knowing his friend would hate this. "Take no unnecessary risks," he finished.

"Understood Connor, over and out," Xander responded after a few moments of silence before switching off the radio.

He growled as he thought over what Connor had said and even though he knew Methos was doing what he thought best for them all, he felt angered and disgusted at having to leave anyone they may miss behind. He banged his head against the wall behind him and tried to block out the thoughts that the idea brought him.

"It's not your fault Alex," Jill's voice said, startling him and he opened his eyes and locked gazes with her. "If it is one thing we've had to learn over the years since the mansion incident, is that we cannot save everyone," she told him and he could hear the bitterness in her tone as she spoke. "It's been a hard lesson for us all, especially Rebecca, but we've all come to terms with it," she stated darkly. "And when the end comes and we've finally exposed Umbrella for what it truly is and the crimes they have committed, maybe just maybe all those we could not save will have some kind of sense of justice," she finished.

"It's all we can hope for," Rebecca's soft but tired voice echoed her friend's statement and he looked down to see the younger woman who was trying to wake up properly.

Xander finally sighed and nodded in agreement. He pushed himself to his feet now that Rebecca was not using him as a pillow and stretched a bit, before he took a look outside. He noted it was still dark outside, but he could not see anyone, zombie or otherwise outside. He moved over to Jenny and shook her awake.

"We're to head to the shopping district, saving anyone we can, but that is it," Xander told them, as he began to grab his weapons and prepare to head out again. "Connor and his group will be heading out in another ten to twenty minutes," he added.

"I take it if we reach the shopping district first we are going to have to hold our positions until they arrive?" Jenny inquired, as she yawned, still feeling tired but doing her best to shake it off.

"Our best bet of that is getting onto the roof of one of the buildings in that area," Jill pointed out as she loaded her shotgun. "Most likely we will run into more zombies inside the shops, but I am sure we can deal with them. I would suggest we stick close to each other just in case," she suggested.

"I agree," Xander said with a nod as he went to the door and then waited for the others to join him.

Rebecca quickly did a check of their supplies before hefting the backpack on her back and grabbed her own weapons. She followed the others out of the door. Jenny waited for them to pass before taking up the rear.

+++

Five blocks away Connor sighed as he put the radio away and looked at the tired people they had rescued. Most were asleep, but others were still awake. Their eyes showed the horrors they had seen since this nightmare had begun. He rubbed his eyes and headed back over to the window where Methos and Chris stood.

"How are they doing?" Chris asked. Worry about his friends was clearly shown on his face.

"They are still resting, just like us," Connor answered. "But I think they will be moving out soon," he added. "As expected Alex did not like your orders, but I think he will listen this time. He knows that we cannot save everyone, not this time," he stated.

"That is something we have become well used to in our fight against Umbrella," Chris said darkly. "If we have any hope of winning this war, we have to choose our battles wisely and be very careful. We can't allow ourselves to get careless during our missions," he explained in a bitter tone.

"I bet that was a hard lesson to swallow," Methos stated, as he glanced outside and noted a few zombies here and there.

"You have no idea," Chris replied. "We're cops or at least we used to be. We signed up to help save people, but now?" he paused as he looked for the right words.

"You are more soldiers now than cops," Methos told him, completely understanding what the other man was trying to say. "You entire situation is different and so is the rules you must serve by. Believe me, I know what that is like," he told him.

Chris was about to argue until he noted the look in the man's eyes and turning to Connor he noted that he had a similar look in his as well. Leaning against the wall he had to remember these people had been alive a lot longer than any of them. Who knows what kind of things they had seen and experienced. Turning away he glanced at his watch and decided it was time to get moving.

Soon the group was back on their feet and getting ready to leave their safe harbor. The survivors they had rescued look unsure and scared, but none of them argued about going back outside, as they wanted to escape this nightmare any way possible.

"Everyone, keep a close eye out for trouble," Barry ordered, as he took a look around before unloading a couple of shells into a nearby zombie, which had turned towards them.

Connor and Methos remained at the back of the group keeping a very wary look on their surroundings. They both had the bad feeling that more than just this virus was loose in the city.

+++

(Sunnydale)

Giles put the phone down and looked up with a dark gaze. Clearly more was going on in Rockville Indiana than the news was reporting. The team the council had sent in had vanished. All they had reported was that the city was in chaos and then a scream had been heard before the line went dead and they had failed to get back in contact with them.

The council was moving to have an emergency meeting to decide how to respond to this. He had a very bad feeling he and his friends would be called in to help with this situation. He removed his glasses and sat down, trying to think of how to tell Buffy about this. He doubted she would be pleased to hear this news. Her hatred for the council was still burning brightly after the Angelus situation. The only thing that eclipsed that was her hatred for Mr. Zabuto, Xander and Jenny.

He guessed he would just have to do what the council ordered once they had made their choice. He just hoped they would not be called in. The Hellmouth may be quiet right now, but he did not doubt that would quickly change if they left it unguarded for a short period of time. Picking up the phone he began to dial the number for Buffy's house.

+++

(Rockville, Indiana)

Xander ducked the swing of the zombie and quickly brought his sword up, cutting right through the things neck. He watched the head fall to the ground, followed a second later by the rest of the body. Glancing to the others he watched them finish off the two other zombies that had attacked them. He was about to tell them to move on, when he was jumped from above by something else.

He quickly managed to throw whatever it was off him and turned to face his new foe. He was not shocked to find a vampire staring at him with bloody fangs and glaring at him with his yellow eyes. He knew this virus would give the vampires and demons in this city free reign, but so far they had seen none of them, now that had changed.

"Time to die blood bag," the vampire said in a cocky voice, sure of his superiority over the humans in front of him, even though they were armed.

"I don't think so," Xander replied, before charging forward catching the vampire by surprise.

Jill and Rebecca went to help their new friend, but Jenny held them back and shook her head at them. She ignored the looks she received from the two women and watched the fight progress.

Xander kneed the vampire in the gut and followed it up with an elbow to the back of the vamps neck, but it shrugged of these hits and managed to backhand him in the face. He staggered backwards, allowing the vampire to charge him, but he rolled with the charge and forced them to the ground, where they began to trade blows. Again he caught the vampire by surprise as he jumped back up and lashed out at the things head with his boots, which allowed him to recover his sword. The vampire jumped back up, but before it could do anything Xander's blade cut cleanly through its neck and he watched in satisfaction as it dusted. Glancing only briefly at the others he turned and moved on, quickly followed by the women.

"What was that?" Jill demanded to know, as she came up to his side.

"A vampire," Xander answered, ignoring her look of shock and disbelief and Rebecca's gasp.

"Impossible," Jill finally responded and almost flinched back when Xander turned on her, rage written on his face. 

"Do not tell me it is impossible Jill. I have seen them face to face before," Xander growled out. "I have fought them for the last couple of years. I lost my best friend to them and was forced to kill what was left of him," he continued. "They exist in every city, town and village and they are not alone. Demons exist as well, side by side with them, killing thousands of people every day and people ignore it all. If they do encounter them, they quickly push it away and convince themselves they were just seeing things," he stated, glaring at her. "Mine and Jenny's first death was at the hands of one of the sickest of these monsters, so do not tell me it is impossible," he finished before turning around again and storming off.

Jill and Rebecca could only exchange unsure and slightly disturbed looks before they followed. Jenny sighed and caught up to them, knowing Xander had not meant to lose his temper at the two women. When it came to vampires, Xander's attitude had always been dark, but after their first death it was far worse. He had grown to despise the people who ignored the truth of the world, even more those who had actually seen the truth, only to convince themselves it was just a trick of the light.

"Don't take what he said to heart. He did not mean either of you any offense," Jenny told them with a sad smile. "But it had been a few hard years, even more troublesome after our first deaths. He takes the war against the vampires and demons just as seriously as you do your war against Umbrella," she informed them.

"What happened to him?" Rebecca inquired, not liking the rage she had seen in Xander's eyes.

"What has not happened? As he said his first encounter with vampires cost him one of his best friends," Jenny responded. "Someone who was as close as a brother to him and as time went on we saw many others die. We saw things most people believe to be just stories and myths," she explained. "We fought them as best we could and then we were exiled due to the mistakes and selfishness of one of our friends, who only cared about herself," she went on.

"What do you mean?" Rebecca asked, feeling slightly ill at this new knowledge, which was even more shocking than learning, that Xander and his friends were immortals.

"One of our friends was the Slayer, a chosen fighter by higher forces to destroy vampires and demons," Jenny explained. "She fell in love with a vampire who had been cursed with a soul by my people. When she broke the curse holding his soul in place he went back to his evil ways and began to kill people left and right," she told them, again feeling the same hatred she always felt when she remembered that event.

"She refused to kill him. She even let him go when she had him at her mercy, costing many other people their lives and so Xander and I took action to ensure she did her duty in the end," she continued. "It was during this time that we suffered our first deaths. We were tortured for hours by that same sick vampire that the Slayer had loved, before he finally killed us and when we came back we were in shock as to how we had come back," she paused, as a zombie attacked from the side. She easily dispatched it with a strike to its heart, followed by one to its brain.

"What happened to this vampire?" Jill inquired, as they continued to move just keeping Xander in her field of vision.

"He was finally killed. The Slayer was forced to do her duty in the end and for bringing the people in who were involved in making her do her job, we were exiled," Jenny replied.

"By that point they were not our friends any more. No, they were idiots who allowed themselves to be controlled by a selfish bitch," she spat. "They refused to accept the mistakes they had made, refused to be held to blame for all the deaths and instead tried to blame it all on us and so we left," she explained. "It was not so bad for me, but for Xander it was devastating when it all fell apart. It caused him many nightmares and sleepless nights and in the end I doubt he will ever fully be who he used to be, because of what they did to him," she stated.

Jill and Rebecca exchanged looks again, as they took all this in and wondered just what their new friend felt on this, but at least they could now understand the rage in his eyes and voice when this subject came up. Silently they increased their speed and caught up to Xander, who was busy dispatching two more zombies. His moves were savage, indicating he was still in the grips of his earlier rage.

"Will he calm down?" Jill asked, glancing at Jenny with a questioning gaze.

"In time," Jenny responded, as they moved on after Xander decapitated the last zombie, as they moved forward her memories surfaced again.

+++

(Flashback, Sunnydale)

Jenny finally let a grim smile grace her features, as she finally found the demon in one of the books Mr. Zabuto had given her. As she read the details described, she kept having flashes of what the monster had done to her and Xander.

"I've found it," she finally told the others and pushed the book over to Giles and Zabuto. "It's called a vak'eral. A very old and very rare demon, according to the book, which begs the question of where Angelus found it," she added.

"A vampire of Angelus' reputation would have many sources and contacts to call on," Zabuto responded. "Then again it is possible that this Vak'eral was always in Sunnydale, just hibernating or in hiding," he continued, as he read the same thing Jenny had.

"If it was here the whole time, why stay hidden?" Xander inquired. "I mean considering how rare and old this thing is supposed to be why has it not tried to open the Hellmouth before?" he continued.

"It might have, long before we took up station here," Giles commentated absently "Then again it might have lost interest in the never ending war, but clearly Angelus has convinced it to aid him," he added, while rubbing the bridge of his nose. "This complicates matters," he stated, looking at his fellow watcher.

"Yes it does, but I think combined we have the talents to take it down," Zabuto replied. "This thing is highly resistant to most magic's and has a tough hide, so getting a weapon to pierce its skin will be difficult, but maybe with the right combination of both we can succeed," he mused.

"What do you mean?" Kendra asked, breaking into the conversation for the first time.

"If we use a magical enhanced weapon it may be enough to get past the skin and wound it. If not we will need another option," Zabuto answered looking at his Slayer as he spoke.

"I think I know something that may help," Xander said with grin. "The same thing we used to take out the Judge," he stated when the two watchers looked at him with questioning looks.

"And what was that? If I may inquire, as Mr. Giles report was somewhat vague on that?" Zabuto responded, whilst Giles suddenly recalled the events in question.

"I stole a rocket launcher from the nearby army base and taught Buffy how to use it, thanks to the soldier memories I retained from Ethan's spell during Halloween," Xander explained. "The dumb ass demon just stood there and took the rocket head on. It blew him into a thousand bits, sadly Angelus and Spike got out of the way before it exploded," he continued.

"A unique way of dealing with such a threat, I take it you left this out of your report to hide the fact your Slayer had to rely on her former friend so much to remove the Judge?" he asked his fellow watcher.

Giles did not reply and instead got up and went back to looking for books, which may help them to find out what had happened to Xander and Jenny. This just confirmed Zabuto's theory, as far as he was concerned.

"Do you have another rocket launcher hidden away somewhere or would you need to break into the army base again?" he asked, turning back to Xander.

"I'd have to break in again," Xander responded. "Luckily for us, the people on the base are complete idiots like most others in Sunnydale," he added.

"You mean people in positions of power, don't you Alex?" Jenny inquired with an amused grin.

"Oh of course I meant that," Xander replied, knowing Jenny was just teasing him. "Still I think this would be our best bet against this Vak'eral. At least this way we don't have to risk Kendra or Buffy getting close with a magical sword, that may or may not work," he pointed out.

"I agree," Kendra said, not wanting to go up against such an old and powerful demon with a weapon which may prove useless against it. One near death experience had been bad enough and she had no wish to suffer another.

"Very well," Zabuto agreed, after thinking it over and coming to the conclusion he did not want to risk his Slayer's life anymore than it had been already. "I will leave the details of that to you then Xander. Now let us see if we can find out what has happened to you," he continued, as took up another book.

Xander and Jenny quickly grabbed some more books and tried to find the answers they so desperately needed and wanted as to what had happened to them. Even Kendra took a book and began to read.

+++

(Rockville, Indiana)

Jenny shook her head and refocused her attention on what was going on. She noted that Xander was busy decapitating just another zombie. He still seemed to be in the grips of rage at the moment, but she was sure he would regain control of himself soon.

Jill and Rebecca were keeping an eye out for any more trouble, but it seemed the zombie Xander was dealing with was the only thing close to them at the moment.

+++

Five blocks away Connor and Methos hacked away at four zombies that had come up behind them, while Chris and the others tried to keep another horde away from them.

Seven zombies were coming from the west and another five from the east. This was making them split their fire and so it was less effective. One of the survivors began to panic and ran from the group, heading towards one of the nearby buildings.

Chris was about to go after him, but Barry grabbed him and shook his head to indicate that he should let the idiot go. They had more immediate problems right now.

Chris glanced back at the man and could only watch in regret as he was set upon by another two zombies, who quickly ripped him to pieces. His screams echoed around the area, but soon died down.

Chris shook his head and went back to firing on the incoming horde. Connor finally cut down the two zombies he had been facing and moved to attack the group of five which had now been cut down to three. Methos soon followed after dealing with his own attackers.

Chris focused hard and began to fire more carefully and quickly began scoring head shots on the second horde of seven. Barry pulled his magnum and began firing as well, scoring more effective hits. Soon both hordes had been dealt with and Chris turned to see that the two zombies who had killed the survivor were feasting on his remains and he quickly put bullets into both of their brains.

"It wasn't your fault Chris. He ran when he knew it was best to stay with the group," Leon said as they walked away.

"I know Leon, it is just..." Chris did not finish and just shook his head, knowing there was nothing he could have done to save the man.  
8\. Chapter 8  
Chapter 8

 

(Sunnydale)

 

Buffy stormed into the Magic Box followed by Oz and Willow. She was in a very bad mood and had not wanted to come in, but Giles had been insistent. Tara entered a few seconds later having just come from her college dorm room. She ignored the hostile look Buffy sent her, having become used to them by now.

 

"So what is going on Giles?" Buffy demanded to know, glaring at her watcher. "Why did you force us to come back?" she added.

 

"I am afraid things in Rockville Indiana may be worse than the news has reported and could be demon related," Giles answered, ignoring her tone of voice. "The council sent a team in to investigate, but they lost contact with them during their last report, they stated the city was in chaos before they let out a scream and the connection was cut off," he explained.

 

"And what does this have to do with us?" Willow inquired a bit frosty, having wanted to spend some time with Oz.

 

"The council has begun an emergency meeting to discuss what to do next. It is possible we will be called in to help," Giles answered, removing his glasses and polishing them and watched as Buffy got even angrier, whilst Willow sighed and Oz just raised his eyebrow in response.

 

Out of the entire group only Tara seemed intent on wanting to do what she could to help, she reminded him a lot of Xander in his early days. The main difference between the two was that Tara had a gentle soul, whilst Xander had also been somewhat darker in nature, shaking these thought from his head he put his glasses back on.

 

"Tell me you are kidding Giles?" Buffy spat.

 

"I am afraid not Buffy," Giles replied with a sigh. "Whatever is really going on is clearly dangerous, if it is demon related we are the best suited to deal with it," he explained. "We have plenty of experience in these matters and it makes sense for the council to send us, please put aside your hatred of the council and focus on the people in danger within the city," he finished.

 

"Giles, the council are going to get me killed one of these days," Buffy shot back. "They don't care how many dangerous situations I deal with, it is never good enough," she added while standing up and then she began to pace. "I am still been punished because of what Xander and Jenny did, making it look like I was betraying everyone when all I wanted to do was save Angel," she hissed, fighting off memories of her former friends.

 

Tara looked from one to the other and noted the different reactions the names brought. She often wondered who this Xander and Jenny truly were. It was clear she was not being told the whole story of what had gone down during those dark times, she had very attuned senses and they told her what she had been told was a very one sided view of things.

 

"Buffy, this has nothing to do with your past and everything to do with the people trapped in the city," Tara finally said. She was somewhat annoyed Buffy would not focus on what was truly important and was instead obsessed on herself.

 

"Hey that is not fair Tara," Willow said somewhat startled by Tara's statement, as the young woman usually kept quite during these meetings. "You don't know our full history with the council," she argued.

 

"Either way Willow, Tara is correct what is important are the people stuck inside the city and who are at the mercy of whatever has befallen it," Giles cut in, hoping to rail off a bigger argument.

 

Silence descended as Buffy growled and just continued to pace and Tara pulled out a book from her bag and began to read. Willow and Oz just stared at each other. Giles sighed and hoped this all would not blow up in his face.

 

(Rockville, Indiana)

 

Xander brought his sword up and decapitated the vampire as it charged him. His anger and hatred for the creatures kept him alert. As they went deeper into the city he had noted that they were running into more vampires than ever before. They had already dealt with seven, including the one he had just killed. He was beginning to worry just what awaited them at the shopping centre. Glancing back he noted that Jenny was looking just as worried by this development.

 

Jill and Rebecca opened fire on two approaching zombies and quickly brought them down, so far they had not encountered anymore survivors and were keeping a fast pace. Xander listened carefully for a few minutes before moving on. All he could hear was the moan of the zombies that littered the city.

 

"I wonder why we are running into more of these vampires than before?" Rebecca inquired with a frown.

 

"Most likely this is where their food source still lives in high numbers," Xander answered somberly. "The deeper into the centre we get the more of the blood suckers will be there," he warned with such certainty that it sent a chill up both Jill and Rebecca's spines.

 

"We should warn the others," Jill stated, not liking how much more dangerous this mission had become.

 

She had thought nothing could rival the evil she had witnessed from Umbrella, but now she knew better. She had seen another facet of evil that traveled the earth and it made the evil of Umbrella look small in comparison. Even the small bit of the story Jenny had told them had been enough to show her that. She wondered just how much bigger the world was and did she want to know the whole story when they got out of this nightmare?

 

Rebecca was having similar thoughts and was doing her best not to focus on the newly discovered danger and all the things it represented. She was trying to stay focused on her current task of saving as many lives as she could. She glanced around noting the tight grip Xander had on his sword and she guessed he was still working off the anger their initial disbelief had brought out, she wondered just how deadly he would be if he were truly to lose control.

 

"Don't worry, Connor and Methos will warn them if they encounter any vampires," Xander said, as he stopped near a corner and took a quick look around it before moving on once he had seen no danger waiting for them. "Until they actually see one for themselves I doubt their reaction to the news would be any better than yours, probably worse," he added.

 

Jill and Rebecca exchanged looks at that before reluctantly nodding their agreement. Chris, Barry, Leon and Claire would not believe such a warning without proof.

 

"I am sure your friends will be okay. Connor and Methos are far more skilled than us having been alive for much longer," Jenny assured them with a small smile. "They have fought many strange things, things me and Alex have not yet seen face to face," she continued. "Methos is the most deadly of us, his skill as far as I can tell is unmatched," she finished.

 

"I suppose that is some small comfort," Rebecca responded as she shot another zombie with a straight head shot.

 

Since the mansion incident she had been trained by Chris, Leon and Barry to be an expert with all their weapons, whilst Jill had trained her and Claire in being better at using their other equipment including Jill's unique pick lock set. She was no rookie anymore, having been on a dozen of such missions since the mansion, but no matter where she stood she knew the others were far better.

 

Five blocks away Connor moved forward carefully, his attuned senses told him they were being followed, but by what he did not yet know. He glanced back to see Methos at the rear with Barry looking around warily so he sensed it as well, he tightened his grip on his sword.

 

"How far do you think we are from Jill and the others?" Leon asked from behind him.

 

"A few blocks at best, they could not have got much further than that, unless they found the streets empty," Connor answered. "It's even possible that we are closer than we think, but trying to find them is dangerous, especially for the survivors we've found and so we stick to the plan of meeting them at the shopping centre," he concluded.

 

"Well let's hope we all make it there," Claire said from his other side. "I don't know what it is, but this feels worse than anything I've felt since Racoon City itself," she admitted.

 

"Then you have good instincts," Connor told her, flashing a grin at her. "Something is following us, I don't know what it is, but something is out there," he warned them.

 

Leon and Claire looked between themselves and exchanged dark looks before they fell back slightly and passed the warning onto Chris and the others. Chris seemed unsure about it until Methos agreed something was defiantly following them.

 

"How close?" Chris asked.

 

"Better yet, do you have any idea as to where it is?" Barry added frowning as her looked around.

 

"No, it is just at the edge of my senses," Methos answered with a touch of frustration in his voice. "It could be anywhere, I suggest we put everyone on alert," he stated.

 

"That could cause the others to panic and run," Leon warned as he glanced at the nervous and terror stricken survivors they had with them.

 

"Then what would you suggest?" Methos inquired with a raised eyebrow.

 

"I don't know, okay? But we need to keep these people as calm as we can Methos," Leon shot back, running a hand through his hair in frustration.

 

"Leon is right, we can't tell them," Claire agreed as did Chris and Barry. "I suggest we spread out around the group a little and do our best not to be caught off guard," she continued.

 

"It will do for now," Chris agreed after quickly thinking it over. "But if we find any more survivors, we are going to have to think of something else," he warned before moving off to take up his position.

 

Connor came to a halt as he was assaulted by another zombie who moaned loudly as it tried to bite into his neck. Using most of his strength he managed to push the thing backwards and easily cut its head off. Glaring down at the head he kicked it away and moved on, he ignored the looks this brought him from the survivors.

 

(Sunnydale)

 

Tara sat down at the counter and stared at Mr. Giles as he checked the supplies for the store. Buffy, Willow and Oz had left to go for a walk, still angered over the situation. She had decided to get some answers about the mysterious Alexander Harris and Jenny Calendar from a source that might prove not to be so bias or at least she hoped that the former watcher would prove to be a good source of information.

 

"Mr. Giles, can you tell me what really happened between Buffy, the others and their former friends Alexander and Jenny?" she inquired, startling Giles who looked up and wondered why she was so interested in the answer.

"May I ask why you wish to know so much?" Giles responded. "This is not the first time you have inquired according to Willow," he pointed out.

 

"Truth is important to me Mr. Giles," Tara answered pushing some hair out of her face. "I do not like being lied too like I have been for most of my life and whilst you and the others have not lied to me about this, you have not told me the full truth either," she continued her tone dark, as she eluded to her past which she very rarely discussed.

 

Giles removed his glasses and stared at the young woman wondering for a minute what her comment about her past meant before he shook it off. He gave his glasses a quick polish before he put them back on and refocused on Tara.

 

"I suppose in the end it depends on how you view those events," Giles finally replied as he got up and walked over to the door and locked it, so that Buffy and the others would not hear him. "To Buffy, Willow and even Oz we were betrayed by Xander and Jenny's actions," he started, having long ago realized the horrible truth of his own actions during the events in question. "I too for a time believed as such, but I was forced to look long and hard at my actions and I am ashamed of what I allowed to happen under my watch," he continued as he sat back down.

 

"I don't fully understand," Tara said. "I know only the basics of the events I asked about. That would be that their actions cost Buffy the love of her life, some guy named Angel," she reminded him.

 

"Angel was not human, Tara," Giles said with a snort of dark humor and distaste. "No, Angel was a vampire, once known as Angelus and part of the group known as the Scourge of Europe. He was cursed with a soul by a Gypsy tribe for crimes committed against it," he informed her much to Tara's shock. "Buffy fell in love with him her first year in Sunnydale and the relationship led to the breaking of that curse that kept the soul in place and Angelus was reborn to run amok and he began to kill a lot of people," he explained with a sigh. "Buffy refused to act to stop him and to my shame I allowed it. I love Buffy like a daughter and was so blinded by that, that I ignored the danger," he admitted.

 

Tara could hardly believe her ears as Mr. Giles spoke, it did not seem possible that Buffy would be foolish enough to get into a relationship with a vampire, even one cursed with a soul.

 

"Did you not realize a curse is always intended to be broken?" she inquired. "You must have at least looked it up," she added.

 

"I am afraid not Tara," Giles said with a sad shake of his head. "No, we never bothered I am afraid and by the time we did think to look into it... well it was too late then," he stated. "Whilst the majority of the group was okay with letting Buffy ignore her duty, Xander and Jenny were not," he continued. "Jenny was a descendant of the Gypsy tribe who first cursed Angel and had been sent to Sunnydale to keep an eye on him. When Buffy found this out she grew to hate her and banished her from the group or at least attempted to," he went on. "There were many arguments before finally they refused to do nothing anymore. They contacted Kendra and her watcher and invited them to Sunnydale to inform them of the situation," he paused here and truly looked regretful.

 

"What did you do?" Tara asked gently, easily seeing this was weighing down on the former watcher.

 

"I tried to stop them from coming by lying to them. I told myself I was acting in defense of my Slayer because the council could be truly evil if they found out what Buffy had done," Giles answered. "They could even go as far as to kill her. In the end I think I did it out of a combination of trying to protect Buffy and myself and trying to hit back at Xander and Jenny," he said with regret. "In the end Kendra and Zabuto arrived and once proof was given of what was really going on Zabuto used the threat of force to make Buffy not only work with them and Xander and Jenny, but also to finally destroy Angelus," he stated. "By the end of the whole thing Buffy's hatred for the four of them was so intense that I was constantly afraid she would attack them. Even today her hatred for Zabuto is just as strong as her hatred for Xander and Jenny, who she blames for costing her Angel as even once he returned from hell she was warned never to try and get back together with him," he explained. "Xander and Jenny left, their own bitterness and anger just as bad as ours and we have not seen or heard of them since," he finished, feeling tired and drained and yet he felt lighter at finally admitting the truth to someone.

 

"Something happened to Xander and Jenny to have caused the bitterness," Tara suggested as she digested everything that was said. "Anger I can understand, but bitterness is something else entirely Mr. Giles. What happened to them?" she inquired, her senses again telling her there was more to the story than was being said.

 

"You are correct of course Tara. Xander and Jenny were captured and tortured to death by Angelus and a demon of terrible power during the events in question and were revived as Immortals," Giles admitted, impressed with Tara's keen senses. "They felt Buffy was to blame and as much as it pains me they are right. Had I forced her to act none of what had transpired would have happened and they would not have died," he added with a bitter smile. "Being Immortal may sound wonderful, but it is not a good life. It is one filled with constant danger and threat of being killed by head hunters," he explained. "They will never know any true peace I'm afraid. They also have the curse of watching any loved ones who are only human die, whilst they remain forever young for as long as they live," he concluded, as he ran a hand through his hair.

 

"I see," Tara replied, feeling a shiver go down her spine and she felt sad for the two outcast members of the group. "Buffy and the others do not like to review their own actions out of fear of what they would see, whilst you have faced that fear and found a truth they do not want to face," she concluded. "Maybe there was another way to handle things, but to me it sounds as if they did the right thing," she admitted.

 

"Indeed," Giles agreed. "It is strange Tara, but more and more you remind me of Xander as he was before those terrible events," Giles told her with a small smile. "You share so much in common. Maybe it is because for that, that Buffy dislikes you so much and refuses to trust you fully," he admitted to the young woman.

 

"I will take that as a compliment then Mr. Giles," Tara responded. "Alexander sounds like someone I would have gotten on well with," she continued. "Thank you for telling me the truth, I will keep it to myself," she finished with a thankful grin.

 

Giles just nodded and once again got up and headed for the door, unlocking the door he turned around and watched as Tara stared off into space, clearly thinking over everything he had said and he wondered just how well Xander and Tara would have got on had Xander still been in Sunnydale.

 

+++

 

(Rockville, Indiana)

 

Xander stopped and turned as he suddenly felt like they were being followed and from what he could make out, it was by a group and not a single person. Something inside him, probably left over traits from the hyena heightened by his quickening, told him it was a group of vampires. He growled low in his throat and wondered how close they were.

 

"What is it?" Rebecca inquired as she noted that he had stopped moving and moved to join his side and looked around the deserted streets.

 

"We've been followed," Xander answered, as Jenny and Jill joined them. "Most likely by a group of vampires, we have to move faster," he added. "If we can't shake them we will have to do something about it," he finished.

 

They turned and moved towards the destination again, this time at a faster pace. Xander already had a plan in mind if they could not shake the vampires following them. He knew Jenny would accept it with tired reluctance, but he doubted Jill and Rebecca would understand. Very few people could understand his hatred for vampires, how deep it was. As he ran he recalled how he had felt when they had finally found the answer as to how they had come back to life after been killed by Angelus and his friend. The memories surfaced, even as he did his best to fight them.

 

+++

 

(Flashback, Sunnydale)

 

Xander rubbed his eyes as he continued to try and find answers as to what he and Jenny were now. He was still confused and admittedly afraid of what the answer would be. The only thing that gave him any sense of peace was the fact they were not vampires. That was his greatest fear ever since Jesse was killed.

 

"I've found it," Mr. Zabuto finally said, startling them all and causing them all to look at him. "I am surprised I did not think of it before given what you said about past and present scars vanishing," he added with a sigh.

 

"What are we then?" Jenny asked, grabbing Xander's hand for comfort.

 

"You are Immortals Miss Calendar," Zabuto replied, his tone even but his eyes were sympathetic, which told them this was not exactly a good thing.

 

"Dear Lord," Giles said in response and removed his glasses and gave them a quick polish as he tried to gather his thoughts at this revelation.

 

"What does it mean for us?" Xander asked.

 

"You cannot die for any injury short of having your head cut off," Zabuto answered. "If you are shot, stabbed or whatever you will die, but then heal and come back, however if your head is cut off, then it will be your final death," he explained sadly. "Immortals are forced to fight one another down through the ages to something they call ‘The Gathering' when the few who remain will battle to the last for the prize," he informed them. "We don't know who cursed them with such a life and we have no idea what the prize is. There are those Immortals who try and stay out of the game as much as possible who have honor and form friendships with others like them in the Immortal community," he stated.

 

"However quite a lot of them are what are called head hunters," Giles cut in. "They have fixated on hunting down Immortals and taking their heads, so that they can gain their Quickening," he explained at Jenny and Xander's look.

 

"What is a Quickening?" Jenny inquired. She was almost numb with shock with what she was being told and Xander was not doing any better.

 

"A quickening is the sum of an Immortals life. His memories and powers," Giles answered. "When an Immortal is killed by another of their kind then the Quickening explodes out of their body and is absorbed by the victor. They grow stronger from this experience as well as gain all the knowledge the defeated had," he continued.

 

"Oh god," Jenny said, before rushing out of the library feeling sick.

 

Xander put his head on the table and cursed his fate. It sounded almost as bad as becoming a vampire. He growled as he stood up and pinned Giles where he stood with a dark gaze. Giles did his best not to flinch and look away.

 

"This is your and Buffy's fault," Xander spat. "Had you done the job before all this got out of control then me and Jenny would not be facing such a nightmare. We defiantly would not have ended up tortured to death by a sick demented vampire Buffy claims to be her soulmate," he raged. "Look at the consequences of your actions he shouted, as he went to hit the man he had once so respected, but Kendra quickly intercepted him and pulled him back.

 

Giles could only stare at Xander, as he struggled in Kendra's grip and wondered where in the hell had everything had gone wrong. He glanced at his fellow watcher who returned his look with a hard and accusing look.

 

+++

 

(Rockville, Indiana)

 

Shaking off the memory he refocused on what he was doing. He did not need to remember what had happened next. Those days were long gone and he did not understand why he was constantly remembering them at odd times like some kind of sick joke. He knew Jenny also sometimes suffered the same thing, but not to the extremes like he did. His memories constantly came back. They were cursed and had been since their first death he thought.

 

They were forced to stop as they ran into a group of zombies and quickly began dispatching them in a shower of blood and gore. Xander moved as fast as he could and removed their heads, whilst Jill and Rebecca unloaded their machine guns into them, sometimes scoring head-shots and sometimes not. Luckily Jenny quickly removed the heads of those they did not kill with a head shot.

 

"Is that all of them?" Rebecca asked, as she took down the last zombie she could see with a clear head shot.

 

"I think so," Jill responded, as she looked around. "So I suggest we get moving now whilst we can," she added.

 

"Go, I'm staying here to deal with those damn vampires following us," Xander replied ignoring the shocked looks from Rebecca and Jill and the annoyed look Jenny shot him.

 

"Alex, please don't do this," Jenny pleaded with him, but she already knew it was useless.

 

"It's suicide," Rebecca exclaimed. "No matter if you are immortal or not," she argued. "We have to stick together," she stated.

 

"Rebecca is right Xander, we need to stick together if we are to make it out of here," Jill agreed, but she had a bad feeling nothing they said would convince Xander to change his mind.

 

"Just go, I'll buy you what time I can and catch up later," Xander said without looking at them, but staring off back the way they had come. "I have to do this," he stated.

 

"Why?" Rebecca asked not understanding this at all, even given what Jenny had told them about his hatred for vampires. To her this was just plain madness, she glanced at Jill and noted she was frowning and clearly did not like this.

 

"I can't explain it to you Rebecca," Xander said finally looking at them. "I just know I have to stay, now go whilst you still can please," he told them. "This is my fight," he said.

 

"Just don't do anything stupid Alex," Jenny finally snapped and she all but stalked forward and pulled him down into a deep loving kiss before pulling back and staring into his eyes. "Don't lose your head," she whispered, before turning around again and moving off.

 

"Jenny, you are not going to let him do this, are you?" Jill asked shocked, as she watched the other woman walk away.

 

"He's made up his mind Jill and there is nothing we can do to change it," Jenny shot back. "Believe me I know. I've seen him do this before and he always comes back to me," she explained as best as she could. "You just have to trust him," she finished.

 

"But," Rebecca tried to find something to say, but staring into Xander's eyes told her there was nothing she could say or do to convince him other wise and so she finally accepted it. "Just be careful Xander, and catch up soon," she finally said, before joining Jenny feeling a sharp prang of fear and loss, which she could not fully explain.

 

"I don't like this at all," Jill finally spoke up after staring long and hard at Xander who stared right back. "But if this is something you feel you must do then so be it," she concluded. "I'll see you later," she stated before joining the other two women and walking off trying to ignore the feelings this event provoked in her.

 

Xander watched them vanish and then turned back the way they had come and smiled into the night. He used his sword to draw a line in the street and then stepped back and waited.  
9\. Chapter 09  
Chapter 09

(Sunnydale)

Tara watched as Mr. Giles took the call and she noted how grim his expression became. It was clearly not good news and she wondered how Buffy and the others would take it when they came back from their walk. She was still adjusting to what she had learned from Mr. Giles about the truth of what had happened between the group and their former friends Xander and Jenny.

 

It was disturbing to learn how badly the blond slayer had messed up. She could not believe she had held back dealing with a dangerous monster so much that it cost two of her friends their lives, no matter that at that point they were no longer friends. They were allies at the least and she should have done her duty. She wondered how many other innocent lives had been lost, whilst Buffy and the others held back out of her insane desire to somehow save her lover. It made her worry just how much she had learned from the experience if anything at all. Would she make the same choice if given a similar situation? She wondered about that.

 

She thought over how Mr. Giles had said she and Xander shared many traits and she wondered if he had felt as horrified and let down as she currently did, probably more so, as she was still new to the group. He had stood by them for two years before this happened. Had brought Buffy back from the dead after she had been killed by the Master. Willow had told her that story during a late night of studying, before clamming up as if burned. She wondered why Willow had sided with Buffy against someone she claimed had been her friend since childhood? None of it made any sense to her and she doubted it would, unless she confronted the others with this, but she feared doing so. Buffy was angry and getting more so as this new threat seemed to get bigger, it would be unwise to confront her now and Willow would just refuse to talk.

 

Giles put the phone down and removed his glasses before running a hand through his hair, wondering how in the hell he would tell Buffy and the others that they would have to prepare herself to enter Rockville and deal with the problem. A new team was already been prepared and Kendra and Mr. Zabuto would be joining them as well. This he knew would not be welcome news to any of them, except Tara who had never met them. This was not a good thing.

 

"I take it by the expression on your face that we are being sent to Rockville?" Tara inquired.

 

"Yes Tara, I am afraid so," Giles responded moving over and joining her at the table. "A new team is being prepared as we speak and a helicopter is on its way to pick us up. The major problem is that Kendra and her watcher are being sent to join up as well," he told her. "I am concerned how Buffy will handle having to work with them again after the last time," he admitted with a sigh.

 

"You are the watcher Mr. Giles. It is up to you to ensure that she does her job," Tara reminded him after taking in what he had said. "Nothing matters except saving anyone who survives in Rockville. She has to put her hatred for those she works with aside and concentrate on the situation at hand or she will only make things worse and perhaps once again cause people to die," she stated in a bleak tone.

 

"Let us hope then that she can indeed put it aside," Giles responded. "The body count is already high and any slip ups by us will just make it worse. More so, it could cost us our lives as well," he continued.

 

They were stopped from saying anymore when the door opened and Buffy, Willow and Oz finally returned looking somewhat calmer, but Tara knew it would not last long once Giles told her the news.

 

+++

 

(Rockville Indiana)

 

Chris came to a halt as a new group of zombies started to come towards them, chasing three teenagers. At first glance none of them looked infected, but he had to make sure. He glanced back and gave the signal for Leon and Claire to take up flanking positions, whilst Barry joined him at the centre. Connor and Methos covered their flank just encase anything tried to come up behind them.

 

"Make sure you check them for infection before you give them a weapon and put them with the others," he said to Claire and Leon, as they passed him.

 

"We know the drill Chris," Claire responded, a little annoyed at the reminder as if any of them could forget, but knowing that her brother was only been protective of them the annoyance wasn't to great.

 

He was the team leader and it was a job he took seriously, even more so considering his own sister, his last living family member, was a part of it. Something he still sometimes complained about, but no way would she turn her back on this, not after Racoon City. What she and Leon had seen had changed them just as much as what Chris and his friends had seen at the mansion had changed them. They were all soldiers in the same war, fighting the same enemy.

 

She also knew he had to be worried about Jill and Rebecca, who were cut off with two basically unknowns, who despite what they already knew could be a threat to them, as could Connor and Methos who remained in this group.

 

"It's a big group, I count thirteen zombies," Leon called out, as he took a head count whilst he checked his ammo.

 

"Let rip them apart, once you have a clear shot," Chris ordered as he settled into a firing position and then waited.

 

A few seconds later, just as the three teens passed their front line, they opened fire. Exactly at that moment Connor and Methos were ambushed by three vampires, who jumped off a nearby roof and onto them. Methos was knocked to the ground by two of them sending his sword out of his hand, while Connor was hit by the third. He remained on his feet, but lost his sword as well.

 

"Shit, they are not zombies?" Barry grunted as he turned slightly to see what was going on and noting how the survivors did nothing, but cower in fear.

 

"Focus on the zombies," Chris ordered. "If they reach us we could be over run," he pointed out, knowing it was a risky call, as it left Connor and Methos at the mercy of whatever the hell had just attacked them. Another new nightmare of Umbrella's no doubt he thought.

 

Methos grumbled as he finally managed to knee one of the vampires in the nuts, forcing it to roll off him howling in pain. No matter the species he thought with a vicious smile, they all had the same weak spot in certain places. This enabled him to head butt the other vampire and get to his feet, letting out a growl he charged the vampire and sent it to the ground, also with a satisfying thud.

 

Connor had an easier time of getting his vampire to back off, using a combination of kicks and punches. He should have guessed they might encounter some demons and vampires in this hellhole and he wondered if Xander and the others had already run into them. He knew how badly Xander hated them and he worried what his reckless friend might do, once he knows what else preys here, getting punched in the gut made him refocus on the fight at hand.

 

Claire had finished her check of the three teens and sent them to join the other survivors, before turning and opening fire on the zombies, she glanced to the side and noted Leon reloading and hoped he was fast, as these zombies were closing in on them. A few moments later Victoria and a few of the other survivors joined them in firing at the zombies and they brought down three more of the undead, leaving five. Chris reloaded his weapon before opening fire again, trying to score head shots.

 

Methos rolled next to his sword and quickly retrieved it before coming back to his feet and smiling as the two vampires closed in on him. The one he had hit in the nuts glared at him with murder clear on his mind.

 

He waited for the attack which came a second later. He ducked the first attempt to grab him, before using the butt of his sword to knock the other one away. He quickly followed it up with a wide swipe at the things back, which earned him a cry of pain from the vampire before he was knocked away by the second. Swinging his sword a little he dived forward, just as Connor decapitated his own vampire and moved to help. The vampire dodged the charge, but ended up with Connor's sword through its back. Methos then turned to the first vampire who glared at him before running off and whilst he wanted to pursue it, he decided to hold off from it, as Connor finished off the other vampire.

 

"This is bad," Connor growled. "Zombies are one thing, but vampires are far trickier to deal with," he added. "Plus you know Xander is going to be gunning for them once he knows about them, if he does not know already," he reminded his fellow immortal.

 

"I know McLeod, but let us hope Xander keeps his mind about him and stays with the others," Methos shot back, as he kept an eye out for any more surprise attacks.

 

Back at the front Chris finally succeeded in bringing down two more of the approaching zombies, another was brought down by the combination of fire from Claire, Victoria and Leon. As they all reloaded, a car came out of nowhere and struck the remaining two zombies, who were about to close in on Claire and a survivor who stood near her. They watched the driver hit them full speed before reversing on them. Instead of getting out and helping them the car quickly took off again. Barry just shrugged his shoulders and walked over and put two bullets in the heads of the mashed up brains of the road kill zombies.

 

"Thanks for the help," Barry mumbled as he headed back, wondering who had been in the car and why he had not joined them. "Nice aim," he said to Victoria as he passed her, gaining a small smile out of the woman they had rescued first.

 

"What the hell were those things that attacked you?" Leon asked Connor as they regrouped.

 

Connor and Methos exchanged looks knowing this was going to take a bit of time. "They were vampires, Leon," Connor responded with as much seriousness in his tone as he could.

 

"Please tell me you are joking?" Victoria asked. Surprising the group as she had stayed silent except to give her name since her boyfriend had been killed when they rescued her.

 

"Afraid not," Methos said. "They exist and have done so since the dawn of time and the same goes for demons as well," he continued. "It is one of those things that are buried right in front of people's faces, yet they see nothing but myth and legend," he explained, leaving the group of survivors and rescuers in stunned silence.

 

+++

 

A few blocks away Xander waited with his sword raised as a group of ten vampires charged out of the darkness straight at him. He took a deep breath before he moved to meet the charge. He ducked the attack of the first two vampires and brought his blade up imbedding it straight into the middle of the third. He then twisted it out of the vampires side and shoved the blade into the forth as it came at him.

 

The first two vampires quickly turned around to help only to come to a dead stop as a nearby building was demolished as something huge burst right out of it. The other vampires and Xander himself froze as they looked at the monster. It was huge at least seven to eight feet tall and muscular as hell. What drew Xander's attention to it though was its left arm which had tentacles connected to it, its eyes roamed up and down the road they were on before letting out a roar as it locked in on them. Xander had seen a lot since finding out the truth of the world, but even he could not help but feel fear at the sight of the pure white eyed monster before him.

 

"What the hell is that thing?" one of the vampires asked, as the monster began to advance on them.

 

"I have no clue," another answered. "Ignore it and kill the blood bag," it ordered, turning back to the human.

 

Xander heard the exchange and finished off the forth vampire as it remained distracted. He also beheaded the third who was just getting back up, before charging the first two vampires. He caught the second who was just turning back to face him and knocked it flying backwards straight into the path of the approaching monster. Again they all froze as the monster reached the vampire and picked it up and literally tore it apart in a shower of dust.

 

The other vampires quickly howled in anger and attacked the monster, bar the first vampire who head butted Xander who was distracted causing him to drop his sword. He shook his head, growled and attacked the vampire with a wicked right hook which the vampire just managed to block and pushed him backwards.

 

The other vampires attacked the monster with brute strength, not realising they had stepped into something even their nature could not beat. The monster roared again and ignoring the attacks shoved three of its tentacles into one of the vampires, as it came back at it. In a sickly shower of blood and then dust the vampire was ripped to pieces. Another vampire jumped onto the monster's back and tried to attack its throat, but was picked up and sent flying into another building with a sickening thud.

 

Xander knew he had to get out of here, but he could not follow Jenny and the others, as it would lead this thing to her as well as Jill and Rebecca. He kneed the vampire he was fighting and rolled for his sword and impaled the vampire on it, as it lunged for him. He kicked it off the blade and quickly decapitated it and did not bother to watch it dust. He saw the monster break the back of another vampire as it shoved its huge boot down on it, making a sickening snap sound that sent a tremor down his spine. He backed off as he watched the tentacles ripped another vampire apart, which finally made the survivors turn and flee, this left him alone to face the monster which roared at him and advanced straight at him.

 

+++

 

(Sunnydale)

 

Buffy stared at Giles, still thinking he was telling the worst joke ever, but the look in his eyes showed he was deadly serious. She felt the hatred and anger she still felt for Zabuto and Kendra rise up and the idea of working with them again just made it worse. She glanced at Willow and Oz who did not look pleased by this news. She then glanced at Tara who did not seem bothered by it at all and was waiting expectantly for her reply.

 

This just made her think of the strange habits Tara shared with Xander and made her distrust the young witch. They were too much alike believing doing their duty was the most important thing in their lives over everything else. She recalled how Xander had said the only thing he cared about was saving lives, no matter the cost to her during one particular nasty argument they had during the Angelus crisis. He didn't care how she suffered after losing Angel. She believed Tara would feel the same given the same circumstances, she'd take the help Tara gave, but she doubted she would ever fully trust her.

 

"Giles," Buffy began to argue before, for the first time in years, Giles cut her off.

 

"No Buffy, there will be no arguments," Giles said firmly. "We are going as soon as the helicopter arrives, we will work with Kendra and Zabuto and cause no problems," he continued.

 

He knew Buffy would not like how she was been talked to and she especially would not like being told what she would have to do, but after what Tara had said to him he felt this was the best option. The sooner the mission was completed the better off they would be. Buffy could cool down then and hopefully put it behind her. Lives were at stake as Tara had pointed out and he had to make sure Buffy focused on that, especially if they were to work with Zabuto again, as he would still undoubtedly be watching to see how she performed.

 

"I can't believe you're saying that Giles," Buffy complained. "You know what they made me do last time, I despise them," she added with venom.

 

"That may be so, Buffy. However that is not the issue here," Giles shot back with a sigh. "That is in the past, you must learn to let it go and focus on the lives that are at stake in Rockville here and now," he told her. "I suggest you all prepare for the struggle ahead," he finished.

 

Buffy glared at him, before turning and storming out of the shop followed by Willow and Oz, who were shocked by Giles taking the hard road with Buffy for the first time in years. Tara watched this and shook her head in dismay at Buffy's actions. Holding onto grudges was never a good thing to do, it twisted you and made you into a bitter person and that is exactly how Buffy was acting.

 

+++

 

(Rockville, Indiana)

 

Jenny came to a dead stop to catch her breath, while doing her best to ignore the worry that ate at her. She had no idea how many vampires Xander was fighting and she feared they may be too many. She had always worried that Xander may one day get in over his head with his hatred of vampires. She just had to prey he would live.

 

She glanced back as Jill and Rebecca caught up to her, looking just as winded. She hoped they were close to the meeting place. Before they could say or do anything more a huge roar echoed around them, making them look up in wary apprehension. A second later the building to their left exploded as a body was flung through it. The monster that stepped through the rubble was familiar to Rebecca and Jill. It was a sight that had often haunted their dreams, it was a Tyrant. Jenny looked closely at the body lying on the floor in horror as she recognized it as Xander's inert form, she ran right across the street ignoring the roaring monster.

 

"Is he ok?" Rebecca asked, as she joined her while Jill slowly backed off from the Tyrant, knowing they had no weapons that could deal with this thing.

 

"I don't know," Jenny responded at seeing the damage that Xander had sustained. Not knowing anything about the virus, it might be too much for his Quickening to handle. "We don't know how the virus reacts with Immortals and so we have to hope for the best," she added, doing her best to stay in control of her emotions.

 

"We don't have much time," Jill yelled, as the Tyrant continued to bore down on them.  
10\. Chapter 10  
Chapter 10

(Sunnydale)

Tara looked up as the helicopter that would take them to Rockville Indiana appeared above them. The group stood in a deserted car park that had once been part of a factory, but was now no more than rubble. Beside her she noted the angered look Buffy wore as she waited to come face to face with two people she hated with every fiber of her being. She shook her head, knowing that if Buffy allowed that hatred to overtake her during the mission she was likely to get herself killed. Willow shuffled about nervously whilst Oz looked concerned about how this mission would go. Finally Mr. Giles looked intently at the chopper and he was hoping Buffy would keep herself under control and do her job.

Finally the chopper landed in front of them and the door was pulled open to show Kendra and Zabuto already inside, making Buffy's blood boil at the sight of them. The man who had opened door indicated they should board quickly. Tara quickly moved to do so earning another glare from Buffy before she reluctantly followed with Willow, Oz and Giles in tow. Once they were all on board the chopper quickly lifted back off and began the flight to Rockville.

"Mr. Zabuto, Kendra I would like you to meet Tara Maclay," Giles introduced the only person they did not know. "She is a Wicca of some power who has been helping us for most of the year, while she is new to the group she has proven to be quite helpful," he explained.

"Nice to meet you Miss Maclay and I'm pleased to know we have some more help in this matter, as from what I have been told it is not going to be easy," Mr. Zabuto responded and offered his hand to Tara who gave it a quick shake.

"Hello," Kendra said with a quick nod before she went back to sharpening her weapons, she was unsure what to make of the new girl. As she was a part of Buffy's crew she was instantly on guard and wary of her. Since the Angelus crisis she had learned not to accept too much from the blond haired slayer and her friends. She would never trust her as she once had again, however she had noted the glares Tara had gained from shaking her watcher's hand and guessed she was not some mindless follower of Buffy's like the others were. Maybe she would prove more like Xander had been, dedicated to the job. She hoped so as from what her watcher had told her, this was going to be one of the most dangerous missions they had ever undertaken.

Tara took no offense from Kendra's short hello, she could see the younger Slayer was preparing for battle and she was focused on ensuring she was not caught off guard and that her weapons were in good condition. She noted Buffy did none of this and was busy talking with Willow as quietly as possible. She removed one of the books she had brought and began to brush up on her combat spells. Giles and Zabuto began to iron out a plan on how to approach entering the city and locating any survivors, Oz closed his eyes and tried to get some rest before they reached their target.

+++

(Rockville, Indiana)

Jenny jerked away from Xander as she noted his quickening activate, but she also noted his eyes flashing between yellow and his normal brown color, his skin rotted every few seconds before healing and she realised Xander had gotten infected with the T-Virus and his quickening was now trying to heal him and fight the infection.

"My God," Rebecca gasped as she watched wide eyed. "The quickening is actually fighting the virus in his system, it is healing it every time the virus gains the upper hand," she added, almost unable to believe what she was witnessing. "That doesn't mean it will wipe out the infection," Jenny reminded her as she watched the virus ravish her lover's body again only for his quickening to heal it. "Stay with him. I'm going to help Jill and you better call the others and let them know we could do with some help here," she added before pulling her sword and moving off to aid Jill.

Jill was across the street from them, dodging and jumping out of the way of the Tyrants attacks before unloading as many bullets as she could into it. She hoped to injure it enough that it collapsed for a bit allowing them to escape. Jenny paused, knowing her sword was next to useless against this thing, she noted Xander's own sword sticking out of the monster's back and guessed he had at least put up a good fight before he was flung through the building. Glancing around she noted Jill's discarded shotgun and quickly retrieved it. She quickly loaded it after finding the ammo in the backpack Jill had dropped and then took aim and quickly opened fire.

"Chris, come in please," Rebecca said holding the radio as she continued to watch Xander's body fight the virus. "Come on answer me," she shouted glancing back to see Jill and Jenny combat the Tyrant as best they could. "I'm here Rebecca, what's wrong?" Chris's voice finally came back over the radio, which relived her greatly.

"We've been attacked by a damn Tyrant and we have nothing that can really hurt it. Xander is down and infected with the T-virus, but his quickening seems to be fighting the virus and is healing him, but whether it will beat the virus is another matter," she reported.

"Damn it," she heard Chris curse. "Can you make it to the shopping centre?" he asked. "Only if we can put this thing down and Xander's quickening beats the virus," Rebecca answered. "We should have packed some heavier weapons," she stated with a frown.

"This was supposed to be a quick run to find as many survivors as we could. We did not expect to run into a damn Tyrant Rebecca, you know that," Chris shot back and she could hear the stress in his voice as he responded. "Do you have any flares to mark your position?" he asked.

"I think so, hold on let me check," Rebecca said before putting the radio down and searching her backpack. "I found two," she told him after picking the radio back up. "Okay Rebecca I am sending Leon and Claire to you. Fire the first flare now and the second one five minutes later, ok?" Chris ordered.

"I got you Chris, tell them to bring something heavy or at least something that will land a good impact wound," Rebecca replied before raising the flare gun and firing the first round. "We see it Rebecca, help is on the way," Chris told her a few seconds later.

"Thanks Chris, we'll see you soon," Rebecca told him before sighing off, not voicing the silent ‘I hope' that ran through her mind. She then turned to where Jill and Jenny were fighting the Tyrant. "Help is on the way," she shouted to them.

"Good, cause this thing is beginning to piss me off," Jill shot back as she slapped in another magazine for her machine gun. "It just will not go down," she added before having to jump out of the way of another tentacle the Tyrant sent at her.

+++

Five blocks away Chris watched as Leon and Claire vanished as they went to help the others. He hoped sending them to help had been the right call considering the large group of survivors they had to protect. He should have known they could have expected to run into a damn Tyrant, they always seemed to be lurking around during an outbreak. He glanced at Barry and noted the tight look his friend had in his eyes, clearly he wished he had been sent to help Jill and the others.

"You made the right call" Methos told him as he took a quick look around. "With Xander down they need all the help they can get or the most likely outcome is that they will die at these things hands," he advised him.

"I agree," Barry said, pushing away his own desire to go and help Jill and Rebecca. "Leon and Claire both have experience in dealing with Tyrants. I'm sure together they can bring it down at least enough for them to escape and meet up with us," he continued.

"Let's hope so" Chris finally said before shaking his head and clearing the more depressing thoughts he had at how it would turn out. "Do you think this quickening of yours can beat the virus?" he asked Methos.

Methos stared at him for a few minutes before he turned and looked at Connor who stared back at him, clearly they were unsure how to answer him. Finally Methos turned back to him and he noted he did not look too sure of his answer; this did not help to raise his spirits.

"It's a possibility," Methos finally told him. "It would not the first time I have heard of an Immortal surviving a sickness or poison including a man made one. We just have to have faith that it will beat the virus," he explained.

"Xander is strong willed Chris. He will not give up without a fight," Connor assured him. "If he can help fight the Tyrant even if he is half dead he will do so," he informed them with a slight smile.

"Good, because a Tyrant is no easy thing to beat," Chris replied as he thought over what they had said. "Every time we've gone up against one, it has taken nothing short of a couple of rocket launcher shots to put it down for the count and even then they sometimes revive in some form meaning you have to hit it again," he told them, recalling his own experience with the damn things.

"Wonderful," Methos grunted as he absorbed what Chris was saying. "This just gets better and better," he muttered as he moved back. "We should keep moving," Connor suggested as he took a glance around. "We are close to the shopping centre and the weapons shop it contains. If what you say is true we will need all the fire power we can find," he continued frowning somewhat. "Maybe if we are lucky it will contain a rocket launcher or two," he added hopefully, before he took up a position near the front of the group.

Chris stared at where he had been for a few minutes before he responded, "Yeah let's hope so," he said before shook his head and focused on the group of survivors. "Ok, we're moving out," he told them. "Keep a close eye on your surroundings and if you see something yell out," he ordered before he took a deep breath and checked his weapon before moving on.

+++

(Watcher's Council)

Quentin Travers sat at the head of the table as the meeting began. He noted quite a few worried or uncertain faces looking back at him. He could understand why they looked and felt like that. The situation in Rockville was clearly more dangerous than first believed. They were sending both Slayer's and their respective backup teams as well a SpecOps team. They would go and find any survivors if possible, but their main goal would be to find whatever was behind the chaos within the city. The only problem they faced in this was the fact that many on the council did not trust Buffy Summers. It had been a close run thing that she had been allowed to live after the Angelus debacle.

The reports from Rupert Giles as well as the operative he had in place spying on them showed she had not changed much since that time. She had a huge ego and seemed to think she deserved special treatment. At least he was pleased to see Rupert had woken up to his errors and was doing his best to make sure Buffy did her job. Many were worried how well she would work with Kendra and Sam Zabuto during this mission. A worry he shared, but they had no choice but to throw them together again if they were to find out what had happened in Rockville.

"How long before the team arrives?" Robert Wyndam Pryce, the father of the failed Watcher Wesley, inquired from his seat at the other end of the table. 

"Five hours at the least," Harold Robson answered. "They picked up Buffy Summers and her team two hours ago and are heading straight for Rockville," he reported.

"Were they any problems between Summers and Young?" inquired Rutherford Sirk. 

"Considering what happened last time I reluctant about trusting Summers to aid Young in this mission," he admitted.

"I can understand this concern that many of you have in regards to Miss Summers, but the sad truth is we have little choice in the matter," Travers cut in before anyone else could speak. "The situation in Rockville is so bad that we need all the help we can to find and exterminate the culprit. I have faith Rupert Giles will ensure her cooperation as will Sam Zabuto," he added.

"Let us hope so," Sirk shot back, not truly convinced Giles was back on the right track in regards to his duty. "We can ill afford to suffer a mishap that results in either Slayer's death," he reminded his fellow watchers. "The Hellmouth is a powder keg just waiting to go up and it needs constant monitoring and the only reason we have allowed Summers to leave it is that we have sent two teams of our SpecOps team to keep watch over it," he went on, folding his hands together. "Kendra Young is an asset we cannot loose. She is the active Slayer and a good one at that," he pointed out.

"Agreed, I'd rather not lose her to some stupid mistake by Miss Summers," Duncan Fillworthe cut in. "If Summers does cause any trouble or if by some action made by her someone gets killed I suggest we finally retire her and allow for a new Slayer to take her place," he suggested.

"All in favor?" Travers asked, not exactly liking the way this meeting was going. He had no real love for Buffy Summers either, but she was an experienced Slayer who had survived quite a bit. She was useful in guarding the Hellmouth no matter that he found her a very tiresome person to have to deal with. He looked around and noted the council was dead locked, which meant it was up to him to cast the deciding vote. Ignoring the look Fillworthe and his allies sent him he voted against such action, unless it could be proven Summers had deliberately gotten someone killed.

"Now is there anything else to discuss?" Pryce asked glancing at the other council members. "What do we do if the team fails in its mission?" Harold Robson asked. "So far, we have not put forward a backup plan in case they fail," he reminded them.

"If they fail then our only option will be to forcibly revive Faith from her coma and send her in," Travers answered, knowing this was not going to go down well with his fellow watchers. "We have the means and she will be our last chance to deal with this situation and if she should fail as well then we will have to hope someone else can stop it while we train their replacements," he told them.

"Surely you cannot be serious as to trust that traitor to aid us?" Fillworthe spat in distaste. "She has betrayed her calling and should be executed not given another chance," he stated.

"That is not for you to decide," Travers shot back. "Faith's downfall came out of an accident that could have happened to any Slayer before her. She suffered an incident that left her vulnerable and the Mayor played on that using her fears against her," he explained. 

"Summers actions during this time basically aided in her seduction as they did not get on and as usually her group followed her lead. It is my hope she will be able to redeem herself if and when she comes out of her coma, somewhere far away from Sunnydale and Buffy Summers," he stated.

"I hope you are right Quentin. She has proven to be dangerous during her stint with the Mayor," Pryce put in. "However given the circumstances of her fall I have to agree she should be given the chance to redeem herself. Maybe with a watcher who can understand what she has been through she can pull herself back from the brink," he added hopefully ignoring the looks of disgust or anger his response gained from Fillworthe and Sirk.

"Let us hope whoever is chosen in that regard does a far better job than your son the most pathetic excuse of a watcher I have ever seen," Bernard Crowley spat. "Wesley was ill prepared to be a field watcher," Pryce growled. "He should never have been sent to Sunnydale or at least he should have had some backup as he had two Slayers to deal with," he argued. "No Watcher before him has ever had to deal with two Slayers if you disregard Rupert Giles, as he was on suspension at that time," he reminded them.

"Enough, the choice has been made and we will leave it at that," Travers cut in not wanting to see a larger argument erupt. He was partly responsible for what had happened with Faith as it had been his choice to send Wesley to Sunnydale. It had proved to be one of the worst choices he had ever made in his time as a watcher.

"This meeting is over and I suggest we turn our attention to other matters and reconvene once the team has reached Rockville," he told them before he turned and exited the room.

+++

(Rockville, Indiana)

Xander groaned as he came too and noted Rebecca was staring wide eyed at him. He wondered what was going on before he remembered what had happened to him. His body ached all over, but he forced himself into a sitting position with a little help from Rebecca. He felt slightly sick, but he ignored that as best he could. "Shit, I feel like I just went ten rounds with three elephants and lost," he moaned as he rubbed his shoulders.

"You are lucky to be alive," Rebecca responded. "You were infected by the T-Virus and somehow your quickening beat it. If we get out of here you have to let me examine you and see if I can find some anti bodies it might have left in your system," she added with a hopeful look.

"No problem" Xander responded doing his best not think about how close he had been to dying and ending up nothing more than a mindless zombie, a chilling thought which sent a shiver down his spine.

The sounds of gunfire and shouting made them turn to see that Jenny just barely dodged the large fist of the Tyrant as it tried to grab her. Rebecca quickly fired the second flare and prayed Leon and Claire were close by as she could tell both Jill and Jenny were getting tired. Xander groaned and pushed himself back to his feet, ignoring the protest of Rebecca as he staggered towards the fight. "What do you think you are doing?" Rebecca demanded to know, unable to believe he was trying to help fight the Tyrant after what he had been through. "I'm going to get my sword back," Xander responded, intent on helping Jill and Jenny anyway he could.

+++

A block away Leon and Claire were running towards their position as fast as they could. They paused as they ran into some zombies and had to quickly dispatch them with some fast foot work and a head shot to each of them.

"Look over there, the second flare," Leon shouted, pointing out the red light that had suddenly appeared in the sky. "I see it Leon," Claire responded as she put another round into another zombie as it came out of the shadows. "Let's go," she said before taking off again, hoping they could be in time to help Jill and the others.  
11\. Chapter 11  
Chapter 11

(Chopper)

Tara looked out of the chopper's window at the passing countryside and was wondering what kind of situation they would find when they reached Rockville. She glanced back to see Zabuto and Giles had fallen asleep, while Kendra seemed to be meditating. She was irritated to see Buffy and Willow were discussing boys and potential dates the blond slayer may chose. This included Riley Finn, who Willow had tried to set her up with a time or two, like that mattered right now. She could see now why Buffy got into trouble so much, her mind was never on her duty. She wondered if Xander had felt the same irritation before he had been forced to leave. She hoped that Buffy would pay attention when they arrive.

+I+

(Rockville, Indiana)

Leon and Claire ran straight to Rebecca who was watching the uneven fight between the Tyrant and Jill, Jenny and a clearly weak and injured Xander. They both paused and were shocked to see that Xander was even moving as anything less than a zombie by now. They glanced at Rebecca who shrugged her shoulders, unable to say anything as she reloaded weapons. Leon shook his head and pulled the grenade launcher he had brought with him. It wouldn't do much against a Tyrant, but it should put it down for a short while which would allow them to escape.

Claire pulled out two combat shotguns and handed one to Rebecca and quickly moved in towards the fight with the others following her lead. Xander ignored the pain running through his body as best he could and jumped onto the Tyrant's back. He grabbed his sword and wrenched it out with a wet pop before he was flung from the monster's back and hit the ground hard. Doing his best to ignore the increasing pain and wariness his body felt he pushed himself to his feet again and moved to attack. Jill just barely jumped out of the way of the huge meaty fist of the Tyrant that often haunted her nightmares.

Jenny reloaded her weapon as quickly as she could and began to open fire again. The Tyrant roared and charged the nearest target, but was blown backwards by the grenade rounds Leon began to fire. Jill let out a small smile as she noted backup had finally arrived. Her legs felt like jelly from all the diving and jumping she had been doing. Jenny just backed off a little and moved closer to Xander. Leon continued to fire, until he ran out of ammo and the Tyrant had only fallen to one knee.

"This thing must be an advanced type of Tyrant to have survived so many hits without going down," Claire suggested, as she reloaded her shotgun.

"I think so, bloody Umbrella can't stop fucking with things," Leon agreed as he finished reloading and began to fire again as the Tyrant stood back up and let out a deafening roar.

Xander lunged forward with the little strength he had left and slashed at the monster's legs hoping to cut into some arteries or veins. The Tyrant ignored his attacks and began to advance on Leon and Claire. Rebecca combined her fire with Jill and Jenny's and the multiple bullets smashed into the Tyrant's chest, but barely slowed it down. Leon moved his aim upwards at the thing's head and unloaded it, hoping to score a direct hit. Xander finally collapsed to his knees unable to keep himself in the fight and fighting off falling unconscious. He just managed to see the Tyrant finally begin to stumble before he fell forwards as the darkness claimed him.

The others continued to fire until the Tyrant collapsed to the ground and went still. Leon fired a few more rounds into the creatures back before he finally stopped firing. Rebecca quickly moved to Xander's side and checked his vitals, joined a second later by Jenny.

"He's okay, just out cold," Rebecca reported after a brief sigh had escaped her lips. "He should have stayed down and out of the fight instead of pushing himself," she complained.

"One thing you should know about Xander is that unless he is out cold or dead then he will not stop if a friend is in trouble," Jenny countered with a strained smile. "He'll be fine once he wakes up," she added.

"We have to move and quickly before this thing wakes back up," Leon told them as he gathered the fallen backpack and handed it back to Jill, who nodded in agreement with his assessment.

Leon then moved to Xander's fallen form and heaved him over his shoulder, while Jenny grabbed his sword and moved to follow. Jill and Claire took up the rear as Rebecca moved to Leon's side so she could keep and eye on Xander.

A block away Connor rounded a corner to see the large shopping centre they had been heading for. Methos soon joined him along side Chris as they moved to scout it out. Each of them was worried about their friends, but they had to concentrate on the here and now. They had a large group of survivors counting on them. Connor kept a close eye on his surroundings as he moved forward with his sword at the ready. Methos kept to the rear as Chris led the way into the large car park.

"Looks clear," Chris said as he looked around and took note that he saw no bodies littering the car park. He saw crashed cars slowly burning here and there, but no bodies.

"Looks can be deceiving Chris," Methos retorted as he looked around, feeling like he was been watched.

"What is it Methos?" Connor inquired, knowing his friend was on edge.

"Something is watching us," Methos shot back as he placed his sword into a guard motion.

"I don't see anyth...," Chris began to say before he stopped as multiple figures began to emerge from the darkness and charge them.

"Vampires," Connor spat in distaste. "Chris, fall back. Let's deal with them," he ordered as he moved to confront the first of the demonic creatures.

Chris wanted to argue, but he knew he would be little good against such things and began to fall back to where he knew Barry and the survivors were. Connor began a fast paced attack of dodging and slashing the vampires through the neck as if they were enemy immortals. The vampires howled as they saw the blood bags start killing them. Methos spun around and split one vampire from head to toe and the vampire quickly exploded in a shower of dust. Connor rolled under another vampire's attack and brought his sword back up and accidentally cut into the vampire's privates. The vampire let out a wail of agony as he slipped off the blade and clutched his wounded area.

"Sorry, my mistake," Connor said, before quickly dispatching the vampire. He had been aiming for the things chest. Shrugging he quickly dived back into the fray.

Methos growl became annoyed with the continued rush of vampires. He knew if Xander had been with him he would be going insane right now. Hacking another of the monsters down he took a brief glance at Connor and noted the Highlander was still going strong. However this allowed a vampire to jump onto his back and attempt to bite him. With a growl of anger he slammed the handle of his sword into the vampire's face which caused the vampire to collapse to the ground in pain, where he quickly decapitated it.

Connor cut down another two vampires as he moved closer to where Methos stood taking the heads of a few more vampires on the way. He wondered where all the vampires were coming from. Finally the vampires turned and ran, having seen enough of their fellows being cut down. Connor moved so he was back to back with Methos just in case they came back.

"That was fun," Methos said as he glanced around.

"Oh sure it was. I hate vampires," Connor responded with a shake of his head. "Just be glad Xander was not with us. He would have waded into them like a hot knife through butter, heedless of the fact he might get swamped," he added.

"Oh I agree Highlander," Methos shot back with a nod as he began to relax. "I think we scared them off for now," he stated as he moved to let Chris and the others know it was safe to move.

"Yeah for now, but something tells me we'll see them again," Connor agreed. He looked around again wondering how close Xander and the others were to them. This adventure was getting dangerous and if they were not careful all of them were going to end up dead.

Chris was relieved Connor and Methos had been able to deal with the vampires. Leading the group of survivors onto the car park he noted nothing but small piles of dust here and there. Barry kept a tight grip on his magnum just in case anymore threats came at them. This mission hadn't exactly been normal so far. The fact there was a Tyrant running around unnerved him as he knew it would be hard to kill, as he moved closer to the shops he began to look for the weapon and hardware stores.

"Ok, we'll rest up here and re-supply as best as we can from the shops," Chris told them all. "Stick to groups if you want to explore a particular shop, don't eat any foods which aren't in any kind of package or wrapper," he ordered, directing this to the survivors. "Drinks should be okay as long as the tops are screwed on tight. Be aware of your surroundings at all times," he warned at the end.

"May I ask why we can't eat food not in wrappers or package form?" Victoria inquired moving closer to Chris and Barry.

"Everything that has happened to you, to your town was caused by a virus," Barry answered with a sigh. "A man made virus of deadly proportions. The majority of the monsters you see are created by the virus, especially the zombies," he continued. "It can affect food which isn't safely in a package or wrapper, same with certain types of drink if there is a way it can get inside," he explained much to their horror.

"How did this virus got loose?" a scared looking man asked, looking like he was on the verge of a panic attack along with quite a few others.

"Unknown at this time," Chris lied as he knew what has caused it, but it would do no good telling these people. "But you should know the virus was created by the Umbrella Corporation and that this isn't the first time it has destroyed a city and it won't be the last" he told them with a dark glare.

"Umbrella caused all this?" A woman asked before breaking down in tears as she realised her daughter who had been hired by the company was probably dead as well.

"Racoon City," Victoria said, gaining Chris and Barry's attention. "They did the same there, right? Even though it was reported to be the result of a nuclear meltdown," she added.

"That was the first city to suffer what you are seeing now and four others have shared that fate, including this one and two small towns along with them," Chris told her.

"You and your friends are the S.T.A.R.S survivors they blamed for the whole thing aren't you?" Victoria asked with confidence, now understanding why these people had come to help them.

"Some of us are S.T.A.R.S," Barry agreed with a nod of his head, impressed with the girl's sharp mind. "The others were just passing through when this happened, but were up to facing the challenge due to their own skills," he added.

"How do we know you didn't cause this?" one of the other survivors shouted half crazed.

"Had we caused this, we would not come here to play hero," Chris shot back, angered by the accusation. It wasn't the first time someone had said something like it and each time it pissed him off more. "We would have left you here to die. I can understand you are scared and angry, but save it for those who deserve it," he growled out angrily, before he turned and stormed off to find the weapons store.

The survivors began to break up into groups to look for food and drinks they could use, some went into other shops. Victoria remained near Barry, still getting used to the idea she was in the presence of people who had been through this kind of thing before. She wondered why Umbrella had decided to destroy their town or was it just another unfortunate accident?

A noise from behind them made them all spin around, but they quickly relaxed as they noted it was Leon, Claire Jill, Rebecca, Xander and Jenny. Connor moved to help Leon as he moved to set the unconscious Xander down. Rebecca quickly moved to his side and began to check his vitals again.

"What happened?" Methos asked as he joined them.

"Xander's quickening beat the virus Methos," Jenny answered with a relieved smile. "But he wouldn't stay out of the fight with the Tyrant and he finally collapsed. He should be fine after a brief rest, right Rebecca?" she asked the younger woman.

"Yeah, his vitals are strong and I would say he'll be up in an hour or less," Rebecca replied before she took a seat next to the young man.

"You okay?" Barry inquired as he joined them with Victoria close behind.

"Just a little tired and I think I might be getting a headache, but other than that I'm fine," Rebecca responded with a small thankful smile at Barry's concern.

Jill collapsed next to her friend and rubbed her legs which still felt the strain of all the jumping and diving she had been doing. Damn she hated fighting Tyrants. "Hopefully we've lost the Tyrant for now," she said.

"Hey don't jinx us," Claire protested. "You should know better than to say things like that," she added.

"Relax Claire," Jill shot back with a shake of her head. "I could so do with a comfy bed," she said, letting out a tired sigh as she did so.

"I think we'd all go for that," Leon said with a grin as he sat down next to Claire, who let her head drop onto his shoulder and so he brought his arm across her and pulled her a little closer.

"Where's Chris?" Jill asked, noting their missing team mate.

"He stormed off after one of the survivors tried to accuse us of causing all this once we explained who was behind this," Barry answered. "You know how he hates it when someone does that," he added to which Jill nodded.

"As if we'd be bloody stupid enough to come here if we had caused it," Rebecca grumbled in annoyance.

"I suggest you rest up whilst you can. Methos and I are going to go help Chris find some useful weapons, especially against this Tyrant creature," Connor told them before he and Methos moved off to follow Chris's path.

"I'll come too. I need some more ammo for my magnum," Barry told them as he jogged over to catch up with them.

Victoria sat next to the others and was wondering if any of them would manage to escape this nightmare. She guessed she should be glad the S.T.A.R.S and their friends had decided to help them. She just wished they'd been in time to save her boyfriend. They tried of course, but sadly a zombie had gotten him before they could reach them.

+I+

(Watcher's Council)

Quentin Travers sat at his desk wondering if the team of Summers and Young could truly work together for the greater good. This was going to be a dangerous test of their ability to trust one another. If it failed it may give his enemies on the council the incentive to try and remove him from the head chair. Turning he stood up and moved to his drink cabinet and poured himself a brandy. Something those idiots Fillworthe and Sirk seemed to forget was that no matter their faults the Slayers were living beings. Yes they made mistakes, but that didn't mean they should be killed straight off. He knew he had a similar thought himself when he learned how far Summers had fallen, but she had managed to keep the Hellmouth safe for four long years, granted that was with aide from her friends, but still.

Sitting down again he took a deep gulp from the glass and savored the taste. Buffy Summers had experience as did Kendra Young, that made them assets and useful assets at that. Training new Slayers would take time and in that time a vampire or demon could succeed in opening the Hellmouth. That was a risk they couldn't take. Things were already getting worse than they had been in the last two hundred years and they faced multiple threats. Maybe he should not wait to order Faith to be woken up from her coma. He would consult Robert and his other allies on the council before proceeding. Leaning back he hoped Buffy Summers didn't slip up again, as he wouldn't be able to spare her a second time. Nor did he think she would deserve saving if she fouled up as badly as she had during the Angelus crisis. Finishing his drink he closed his eyes and hoped things went well in Rockville.

+I+

(Chopper)

Giles looked over the map they had of Rockville and tried to locate a site where survivors might attempt to reach, moving his fingers over the map he paused as it came to rest on the shopping centre. He tried to move along, but something kept bringing him back to the shopping centre. Frowning he wondered why? Was it instinct or something else?

"I think we should head here," he finally said to Zabuto, pointing to the shopping centre.

"Why there Mr. Giles?" Zabuto inquired, puzzled by the certainty he heard in his fellow watcher's voice.

"I don't know exactly, but something tells me the survivors are there," Giles answered, unable to say what drew him to that point on the map, but certain that this was where they had to go.

Zabuto looked his fellow watcher over and noted the look in his eyes showed he truly believed he was correct. After a quick look over the map he decided it was a good place to start as any other. He turned and gave the order to the pilots to head for the shopping district in the middle of the city. Glancing back he noted Kendra had finally curled up and was trying to get some sleep. Good he thought, she would need it if things were as bad as he feared. He also noted Tara Maclay the new girl to the Hellmouth group was also asleep. However he noted Buffy and Willow were still up talking. He shook his head, knowing it might cost them both later on.

"We should reach the outskirts of the city in an hour or two. From there it shouldn't take us long to reach the shopping centre," Zabuto mused. "Let us hope there are survivors," he added to which Giles nodded in agreement.

"I believe there will be. Humanity has a great capacity for survival," Giles assured him. "Now I suggest we all try and rest before we deploy and that means you too Buffy, Willow," he suggested, turning to his charge and her friend.

"But," Buffy tried to argue, but Giles quickly cut her off.

"You'll need your strength for what lies ahead. Now lie down and try to get some rest," Giles ordered her with a slight glare.

Buffy mumbled her complaint silently, before she did as she was told. One thing she had always hated since Zabuto and Kendra had come back into their lives during the Angelus crisis was that Giles not allowed her to control things anymore. He was assertive with her and made sure she did as she was told. Willow just shrugged her shoulders before doing the same. Silence descended on the chopper as the whole group plus the SpecOps team tried to rest before the fight ahead.  
12\. Chapter 12  
Chapter 12

(Rockville, Indiana)

Xander groaned as he came back to himself and was blinking his eyes rapidly. He finally got a clear vision and he looked around and noted that he was sitting against a wall along with the others. Clearly they had escaped the Tyrant he noted, at least for now. Jenny was by the side of him almost falling asleep and so had not noted he was waking up. Rebecca was already on his other side checking his vitals again with a smile on her face. He guessed she was pleased he had recovered, from his rather reckless attack on the Tyrant, while he was still half dead. Jill was on the other side of Jenny rubbing her legs, she looked up and caught his eyes and nodded at him, also pleased to see him wake up.

"How am I, Doc?" he inquired while turning back to Rebecca with a raised eyebrow.

"Your vitals are good and you seem to have no visible effects from being infected," Rebecca answered. "I still can't believe your quickening beat it," she added with a shake of her head. "Still when we get out of here I'm going to have to run a series of tests on you to ensure you are 100% and have no lasting bits of the virus in your system," she told him.

"Sounds very dull Rebecca, but I guess I can agree to that, considering you know what you are doing with that kind of thing and I don't have a clue," Xander responded, running a hand down his face. "Plus I doubt a regular doctor would know what to look for either, would he?" he asked.

"No they wouldn't," Rebecca confirmed. "The virus is unlike anything any normal doctor has seen before. Once it hits a town or city the local hospitals are overwhelmed with patients," she explained. "They will try all the normal vaccines which will fail. Then they will call for outside help which will go nowhere," she went on, her gaze darkened somewhat as she spoke and as she recalled all the deaths she had seen thanks to Umbrella. "Within two to three hours the hospital is as deserted as the rest of the city. The doctors and nurses will be nearly all infected," she continued as she leaned against him somewhat. "Umbrella's power ensures they never think of listening to our warnings and what little real information we have gathered about the virus itself. To the majority of the world we are the enemy," she spat angrily at the end.

"Easy Rebecca," Jill said as she noted her friend's sudden dark mood. "We'll get them in the end and we'll make the whole world realize how wrong they were to dismiss us," she told her as confidently as she could.

"And how many people have to die before we succeed?" Rebecca shot back with a frown.

Xander could see this was an old argument and there was no real anger between the two women. Rebecca had a caring nature which is why she had probably become the team's medic. He put an arm around her shoulders and gave her a quick hug which she seemed to appreciate, she curled up against his side and closed her eyes and tried to get some rest. Jill shot him a thankful look at helping to calm down Rebecca. She knew how much the death scale upset her friend. Everyday they failed to bring down Umbrella, more people paid the price with their lives. Jill let out a bitter sigh before she copied Rebecca's actions, and leaned against Xander and tried to rest while she could.

Xander looked at both women in surprise not understanding why they seemed so content to sleep against him, looking up he locked eyes with Jenny whose face broke into a smirk as she noted what the other two women had done. She had noted both Jill and Rebecca had quickly come to trust Alex, Rebecca more so than Jill. Seeing them using him as a pillow was amusing to her, what Alex failed to realize was he gave off a protective presence that drew women to him. Even the stupid bitches Buffy and Willow had felt safe around him, well until Summers lost her marbles and bedded Angelus. She sometimes wondered if Buffy Summers had always been brain dead or if it was just a side effect of making so many stupid choices. Her mind drifted back to the past, she fought it but eventually the memories surfaced.

+I+

(Flashback, Sunnydale)

Jenny sat at the library table alongside Xander, Kendra and Mr. Zabuto. They were waiting for Giles to show up with Buffy, Willow, Oz and Cordelia for this meeting. Oz had followed the lead of his girlfriend and of course the lead of Buffy, Cordelia however had been more supportive of their actions and hoped Kendra would succeed in killing Angelus. The group was basically fractured down the middle, Xander had admitted he hated this fact, but he at least realized it was unavoidable thanks to the choices that had been made by its members.

Finally the doors were flung opened and Buffy all but stormed in looking annoyed, Willow and Oz followed. Willow refused to look at either her or Xander, this annoyed her even more than Buffy's actions considering how the red head was supposed to be Xander's best friend. Cordelia was next and she moved to sit near Xander and Kendra, finally Giles entered looking slightly put out. Clearly he had not had it easy convincing Buffy and some of the others to come to this meeting. Jenny shook her head in disgust as once again the blond proved her stupidity. She should have been here from the start, doing all she could to destroy Angelus and his followers. But instead she avoided it like the plague. It was a miracle the world had not been ended already.

"Ok Giles," Buffy growled out as she slumped into a chair. "We're here, so what do you want to talk about?" she asked, basically ignoring the presence of the other half of the table.

"Miss Summers, I called this meeting as you well know and I would appreciate it if you did not attempt to ignore me," Zabuto spoke up. "Now we recently came into information that Angelus has teamed up with a powerful demon," he continued before Buffy cut him off.

"We've dealt with powerful demons before and won," Buffy said dismissively. "What is so special about this one?" she inquired.

"This demon is a Vak'eral. A rare demon to find in this day and age and old, which means it is more powerful than anything you've fought, bar the Judge. He will be very hard to kill," Zabuto explained. "I know for a fact you were only able to destroy the Judge thanks to the idea Alexander came up with to use a rocket launcher. A weapon which clearly was not forged by man," he added, cutting Buffy of as she went to interject again. "This demon may end up being even harder to kill when one considers the age. Still I have already called the council and asked for anymore information they can find on this problem," he told them.

"How did you find out about this demon?" Willow asked.

"Jenny and Xander were captured by Angelus and tortured and killed by him and this demon," Giles admitted. "They awoke having healed even old scars. After some research we came to realize they are Immortals," he informed them tiredly, feeling drained especially after the long argument he had with his fellow watcher before he demanded that he find Buffy and the others and bring them here.

"So we're just going to believe these two liars?" Buffy spat in anger, she saw this as just more attempts by them to make Angel seem more unredeemable.

"Will you grow up Miss Summers and leave your short sightedness where it belongs? We are in a fight for our lives and it has already cost you two allies," Zabuto exploded, making Buffy and Willow jump as they heard the anger behind it. "In a sense we should be thankful they turned out to be Immortal or you would now be responsible for their deaths. Tell me how you would truly feel about that?" he demanded to know as he glared at her.

Buffy shifted in her seat not sure what to say. A part of her wanted to lash out more at her former friends, but she knew it would not go down well with Zabuto or Kendra who was also glaring at her. Giles would probably not be too happy as well at her lack of care about two people's deaths.

"It should make you sick to your stomach. It seems that I need to remind you that as a Slayer you are supposed to protect life," Zabuto pointed out. "You actions of late have only aided in causing death, do you want your family or your friends' families to die, Miss Summers? Because that is going to be the end result if you do not wake up and realize Angelus is a threat that needs to be destroyed," he continued. "How many people will you let die before you accept this?" he inquired.

"Angel is gone Buffy and he is not coming back," Giles told his slayer. "We have to act," he stated.

Buffy wanted to rage and shout, but she could see it would gain her nothing. The whole group was now looking at her, waiting for her to respond. Even Willow was looking ill at ease and she guessed the mention of family had broken through to her red headed friend. She glared at Xander and Jenny, but they were not looking at her. They were talking quietly to each other.

"Fine," she growled, seeing no other choice now that Giles, Willow and Oz were siding with the others. She had held onto a slim hope that as long as they were supporting her that they might be able to overrule Zabuto, but now that hope was lost.

"Good," Zabuto nodded thankful she seemed to finally understand. "Tonight we will hunt as a full team. Alexander has agreed to break into the army base and attempt to gain some more heavy weapons so we can see if they will affect the Vak'eral," he explained their plan. "Mr. Osbourn and Kendra will assist in this endeavor. From there we will head out and attempt to find the main base Angelus is using and destroy it," he continued. "If we fail in this, we will attempt to draw his attention to us by killing as many of the local vampires as it takes, seen as they all answer to him at the moment," he stated.

"What if the heavy weapons don't affect this demon?" Cordelia asked. "I mean I don't exactly like the fact you said it might survive the kind of thing we used to destroy the Judge," she added.

"I don't know exactly Miss Chase. I hope the council will find the answer should the heavy weapons fail us," Zabuto answered after a short pause. "Now I suggest you all prepare for tonight," he stated.

The group quickly broke up led by Buffy stalking out the way she had come in. Willow quickly followed her to make sure she was alright. Oz remained behind to talk to Xander and Kendra. If they were going back to the army base they needed a plan. Jenny watched as events took shape and she prayed the weapons Xander intended to grab would work or they might just be shit out of luck.

+I+

(Rockville, Indiana)

Jenny shook the memories away forcibly, as this was not the time to recall things best left in the past. She glanced around and noted Xander had fallen asleep again. He was clearly not fully recovered yet from first the infection of the T-Virus and second the battle with the Tyrant. Rebecca and Jill were still resting against him and both looked peaceful for the first time since she had met them. Clearly she had been lost in her memories longer than she had thought. Most of the survivors were also doing their best to try and rest while they could while Leon, Barry, Chris, Connor and Methos were going through a pile of weapons they had gathered. Getting up she moved to join them. She prayed there was something in the pile that would be effective against the Tyrant she was sure they would run into again.

+I+

(Chopper)

Tara shook her head as she woke up as the chopper went through some turbulence which rocked it. Looking around she noted everyone else was still resting bar Kendra who was looking over the burning city. She took a look herself and immediately felt sick. The sight before her was truly horrifying and she could barely guess what the kind of death scale would be. The city was burning in places and she guessed looters had been the cause. Then again maybe the demons and vampires were the ones responsible for that.

"Do you think anyone could have possibly survived?" she couldn't help but ask Kendra who turned to face her.

"I don't know Tara," Kendra answered honestly, deciding not to hold Tara's association with Buffy against her. So far Tara had shown far more insight and caring than Buffy ever had. She turned to look back out the window. "Mr. Giles seems to believe there are survivors, we can only hope he is right," she added.

Tara nodded in agreement with that statement and wondered what they were about to drop into. She reached up and grasped the necklace she wore. The last gift she had ever received from her mother before she died. She prayed to the goddess that they would all make it out of this.

"Are you okay Tara?" Kendra asked as she took note of the nervous look Tara now wore. "I will be," Tara assured her. "I was just saying a quick prayer to the goddess," she explained.

"We'll be over the target location in ten minutes," one of the pilots interrupted them, making them both turn to look up front before they moved to wake the others up.

+I+

(Rockville, Indiana)

Chris looked up as he heard what had sounded like a helicopter nearby. Looking around he saw nothing and returned to the conversation he was having with Barry, Leon, Connor, Methos and now Jenny. They had found a large cache of weapons, including thankfully a rocket launcher. However they only had three rounds for it. That meant it would have to be used sparingly. Again he heard the noise and he looked into the sky again wondering if he was hearing things.

"What is it Chris?" Leon inquired, as he noted his friend's distracted state. "I keep thinking I can hear a helicopter nearby," Chris answered. "I don't know where it is coming from, but I swear I can hear one," he added slightly frustrated.

"You sure you can hear one?" Barry asked, as he too looked into the sky which was beginning to grow lighter and he began to realize it would soon be daytime.

"I'm sure Barry," Chris replied. "Maybe it's Umbrella?" Leon suggested. "They could be sending in some of those disposable grunts like they did in Racoon to pitch against the bio weapons," he added.

"Possible I guess," Chris agreed, even if he was not a hundred percent convinced that was the truth.

"Should we tell the survivors to take cover?" Connor asked as he looked around and soon he too began to hear the sounds of a helicopter. "I hear it now," he told the others.

"Not yet, not until we know who it is," Chris shot back as the others, including some of the survivors, began to hear the noise as well. "Looks like we are about to have some company, better give me the radio so we can tell them not to land," he said turning to Barry.

Barry nodded his head and handed over the radio as he saw what Chris was worried about. If the chopper landed it was possible the infection could spread outside the city. All it would take is for one of the passengers to be infected, attacked during the evacuation it would be so easy for one of them to get by them.

The group now stand looking into the sky, including Xander and the others who had been woken by the noise from the other survivors. The black chopper soon came into view and the survivors began to point and shout. Xander shook his head knowing this was no rescue chopper.

Chris quickly began using the radio to contact the pilots of the chopper, changing frequencies he finally found the right one and managed to convince the crew not to land.

+I+

(Chopper)

There was a few tense minutes as the chopper came in to hover over the location Giles had picked out, the whole group was now tense awaiting word of what the next move would be.

"We've found survivors, but they say that under no circumstances can we land," the pilot explained to Giles and Zabuto.

"Do they say why we cannot land?" Zabuto inquired confused by such a warning.

"No, but I am guessing they don't want the chopper overrun by the demons and vampires," the pilot suggested. "If we land and try to get as many of those people on board as we can, we will give the enemy all the motive and opportunity to swamp us," he warned.

"Good point," Giles reluctantly agreed as he glanced back at where the others waited for them to make the call. "We'll have to drop down on cables and walk them out of the city as fast as we can," he suggested. "Risky I know, but it is all we can do. We might also find out just who is behind all this," he pointed out to his fellow watcher.

Zabuto had known that was always going to be a possible action they would have to take, but he had hoped they would be able to keep the chopper close by. That would not be possible as it would have to refuel soon enough, still they had their orders and that was to rescue any survivors and find out what had caused the destruction in Rockville.

"Very well," he agreed before he turned to face his team. "We'll be repelling to the ground by rope, drop weapons and ammo crates first as well as first aid kits," he ordered. "We'll have to be on alert as soon as we touchdown," he added.

+I+

(Rockville, Indiana)

Xander looked up as they people on the chopper pushed what looked like weapons and medical gear down to them. The chopper had come in a little low so they would not break on impact. He suddenly had a very bad feeling about whoever it was who was about to join them, he backed off until he was close to Jenny.

"Something wrong Alex?" Jenny inquired, noting the look on his face.

"I just got a bad feeling about who is about to drop in on us," Xander shot back, locking gazes with her.

"You don't think," Jenny started to say before Xander grinned at her in a way that showed that was exactly who he meant.

Jenny looked up at the helicopter and suddenly she got the same bad feeling as she saw a young woman begin her descent on a rope. She had the same blond hairstyle as Buffy had the last time she had seen her. She let out a groan of part annoyance and part anger. This was suddenly going to become all the more difficult.

More people began to descend from the chopper. Most of them were in black Special Forces outfits. Armed to the teeth they quickly moved to secure the car park they were now in. The survivors watched hoping the chopper would land and they could board it. Soon the last two members had touched down and the chopper began to gain altitude again. Giles looked around, but missed the presence of Xander and Jenny who were hidden behind the other survivors. Connor and Methos moved to join them, not liking this twist as they knew exactly who had come to help them.

Before anyone could begin speaking the chopper exploded above them as a car was flung into it, the survivors scattered and screamed as parts of the chopper and car came down. One of the survivors was crushed by the tail end of the chopper and another was hit by one of the broken blades. It spliced through his chest and heart, blood spurted out of his mouth as he died. A large roar, from close by signalled the close presence of the Tyrant which Chris realised had flung the car.

"What the hell is going on?" Buffy demanded to know as she looked around seeing the wreckage of the helicopter strewn around as well as the bodies of some of the survivors who had been killed by the explosion.

"Look," Methos shouted trying to gain the attention of the others. Chris and the others looked at where he was pointing and noted a large horde of zombies shuffling in their direction.

"Holy shit," Giles gasped, as he saw how many undead there were.

"Form a defensive formation," Xander cried out as he moved to pick up some of the weapons Chris and the others had found.

This of course brought him the attention of Buffy, Willow, Kendra, Zabuto and Giles who stared in a mixture of shock or in Buffy's case extreme hate. Buffy started to move toward him, but Jenny appeared in front of her and placed her blade under her throat.

"I don't think so Summers," Jenny growled. "If we were not about to be almost over run by zombies I'd remove your head now," she added with a hateful glare of her own. "Stay away from him," she warned.

"We don't have time for grudges," Connor interrupted with annoyance. "Grab a weapon and get in the line," he ordered, ignoring the angry look Buffy sent him.

Tara moved into the line close to where Xander and Jenny were now. She took the time to look them both over. She already knew who they were, and the fact Buffy had tried to attack them while they were about to be swarmed by Zombies annoyed her. ‘Did she never think of the mission before her own feelings?' she wondered. Hopefully they would survive what was about to descend on them, she really wanted to get to know Alexander and see if Giles had been correct that they would get on so well.

"Oh fuck," Claire stated, drawing the attention of the majority of the group as they turned to see the Tyrant moving in on their position, off to the side were another group of zombies also closing in for the kill.

"We're surrounded," Jill noted with dawning horror as she looked around and for any way of escape but found none.

Xander also saw this fact and cursed, he glanced at Jenny, Connor and Methos who all looked grim. The odds of them surviving had just dropped. The survivors including Victoria gripped their weapons hard as they tried to stem the terror they felt at the approaching horrors.

"What do we do?" Rebecca asked Chris as she moved to his side, doing her best to remain in control of the mounting horror she felt at their situation.

"Pray," was all Chris said before he gave the order to open fire on the rapidly approaching zombies.  
13\. Chapter 13  
Chapter 13

(Flashback, Sunnydale)

Xander snarled as he engaged the vampire he was currently fighting. He was annoyed that they had been ambushed after they had infiltrated the Sunnydale Army base once again. They had not improved their defenses and it had been just as easy to break in as it had been the first time. Snagging two rocket launchers plus extra ammo as well as some grenade launchers they had quickly left again. Kendra's help in moving the weapons had been a huge advantage.

Oz had waited for them close to the left wall of the base as they had done before. It was just after they had put the weapons into Oz's van that they had been jumped by four vampires. He couldn't be sure that they had been sent by Angelus as he would have no idea what they had planned, but then again he could have had them watched or more likely Drusilla had alerted him to the danger.

Each member of the so called ‘Scourge of Europe' was deadly on his own, but united they were even more deadly. He was relieved that the bitch Darla was dead long before Angelus had returned. He could only imagine the added danger she would have brought had she lived to this point. It was no wonder that they had earned such a reputation when he considered the crimes they had committed. A punch to his gut which left him a little winded made him refocus on the fight. He lashed out with his own fist, catching the vampire on the chin. The vampire actually stumbled backwards from the blow, this let him drop to his knees and sweep the vampire's legs out from under him. He had learned a lot from watching Buffy and Kendra fight, but while he was of course nowhere in their league he could at least keep himself alive.

Grabbing his stake from where it had fallen he quickly staked the vampire before it could recover. He guessed it must have been a newbie considering how easy it had been to kill it. He glanced to the left to see Oz fighting against another of the vampires, while Kendra easily kept the third distracted. He frowned when he realized the forth was missing. He looked around for it but saw nothing.

"Xander, look out," Kendra shouted out a warning as she kicked the vampire she was fighting between its legs, dropping it to the floor.

She had noted the forth vampire worked its way around them while its companions kept them busy. It had then climbed on top of Oz's van and was about to jump the distracted Xander. Pulling her stake she spun and dispatched the vampire she had been fighting, which was still screaming in pain from her low blow. Turning back she saw the vampire lunge at Xander who had just looked up and took note of its presence. They both fell to the ground and Xander lost his stake which rolled away. The vampire began hitting him hard, but Xander fought back. She rushed forward to help only to be cut off by a fifth vampire, who must have been watching the events unfold.

Oz struggled against his own vampire before he saw an opening and quickly head butted it, this startled the vampire and it fell backwards. Pulling out his stake he slammed it into the undead things chest and watched in satisfaction as it died. He turned and then went to help Xander who was now trying to keep from being bitten.

He rushed past Kendra who was now gaining the upper hand in her fight, colliding with the vampire just as it got close to Xander's throat he sent it flying into the wall of the Army base. Xander gave him a thankful nod of his head as he got back to his feet. The vampire quickly regained its feet as well and growled at them both.

Kendra slammed her left foot into her vampire's chest as she went airborne in a spinning kick and the vampire was sent flying into the side of Oz's van where it slumped to the ground allowing her to quickly stake it.

She turned back to where Xander and Oz were now teaming up against the last vampire, even together though they were not able to match the vampire's strength. Oz was knocked to the ground by a nasty back hand while Xander caught a knee to his gut before he was sent head first into the wall. She flinched as she heard a crack of bone breaking. Xander's body dropped to the ground with a dull thud and did not move again. The vampire smirked as it killed his prey and then began to lean down to feed allowing his blood lust to get the better of him. This of course allowed Kendra to stake it from behind and so a lock of shock crossed the vampire's face before it dusted. Kendra knelt down next to Xander and felt for his pulse but found none.

Oz was stunned to have witnessed Xander's death. However a few seconds later, his body began to jerk around as bolts of lightning danced up and down his body. A few seconds later Xander sat upright while taking a deep breath, taking note of the wide eyed looks of Kendra and Oz he realized with a wince that he must have died again.

"How did you do that?" Oz inquired.

"I'm Immortal. Remember?" Xander answered wearily. "I can't die except in a specific way," he reminded them his tone dark.

"We heard the details, but to see it close up with our own eyes is shocking," Kendra told him before she stood up and offered him her hand to help him up and she easily pulled him back onto his feet.

"We should get out of here before anymore vampires turn up and heaven forbid anyone notices that some more weapons have gone missing from the base," Xander said hoping to change the subject.

"I agree," Kendra responded with a nod of her head before she turned and headed for the van with Xander close behind.

Oz watched them go for a few seconds still trying to get over seeing Xander die and then come back to life. He would have to tell Buffy and Willow about this. Shaking his head he quickly headed for the driver's side of his van, he doubted Buffy was going to like this, but she had the right to know the sort of changes and advantages of being Immortal gave Xander and Calendar.

+I+

(Rockville, Indiana)

Xander shook his head frustrated at loosing focus during such an important battle. He had fought with his memories surfacing at the wrong moment since leaving Sunnydale, but so far nothing he had done had helped him control them. Jenny also suffered this problem as did many other Immortals including Connor. Connor of all their Immortal friends understood what they were dealing with and how hard it was to stop memories surfacing when you least needed it. Methos however had long learned how to control his memories, as the oldest living Immortal that came as no surprise to any of them.

The roar of the Tyrant made him shiver as he recalled his attempt to stop it. It would have been suicide had he not been Immortal. Even then, had his quickening not been able to fight the virus off, he would have been worse than dead. He noted Buffy break formation and actually head for the Tyrant, even he was shocked at her arrogance at thinking she could bring the monster down.

"Buffy don't be a fool," Jenny shouted, having seen the blond Slayer's move as well. "You can't kill it like you would a demon," she continued as the Slayer paused only briefly. "You get close enough to it and it will infect you with the damn virus that caused all this," she stated as she glared at the blond Slayer.

"It has to catch me first Calendar," Buffy responded, not believing what she was being told, this was all the result of some demonic influence. Most likely Calendar was trying to scare her and make her look stupid when she was supposed to be doing her job. "I'm the Slayer, remember?" she spat before running right for the Tyrant, leaving behind Jenny who could only shake her head in annoyance.

"Buffy get back here," Giles shouted, but his charge ignored him and kept on going somersaulting over a couple of zombies before using a car to launch a flying kick at the Tyrant's head.

She bounced off as if she had kicked a solid concrete wall and hit the ground even harder, but she rolled with the impact and came back to her feet. The Tyrant roared at her in anger before advancing on her. She dropped into a defensive crouch and readied herself for a fight. All the while she fought off the small part of herself that believed Calendar had been right and that she might have bitten off more than she could chew here. But she quickly shook those kinds of thoughts off, she was the Slayer and she would win this fight.

"Where are they all coming from?" one of the survivors gasped as he reloaded his weapon all the while his hands shook badly from the fear he felt, which increased even more as the zombies closed in on them from all sides.

"Just keep firing god damn it," Barry shouted back at him as he reloaded as well, while privately wondering if they would get out of this alive. "Aim for their heads," he ordered.

Two of the survivors ignored him and decided to make a break for it through the shopping mall. They ran as fast as they could believe the thinner horde would be easier to break through.

"No don't," Victoria shouted when she took note of what they were doing. "It's suicide," she stated. This drew the attention of two more survivors who quickly broke ranks and followed.

Victoria tried to go after them and stop them, but Barry quickly stopped her, she looked into his eyes and noted the resigned look in them. He shook his

Head, indicating it was already to late.

They could only watch as more zombies suddenly poured out of the mall entrance where the survivors were running for. The survivors skidded to a halt and tried to run back the way they had come, but they had already drawn the attention of many of the other zombies and they were quickly surrounded.

Victoria looked away quickly unable to see what was about to happen, Barry looked away as well, having already seen too much death. They had made their choice to run and it was going to cost them. They had been warned not to break the line and they had not listened.

He was not going to risk anyone else in an attempt to rescue them. The zombies ripped into the four survivors as they finally reached them. Dragging them down and tearing into their flesh. The survivors screamed for help, but no help was coming. Blood spurted out of their mouths as they felt their organs being ripped and bitten into, their visions dimmed as the agony they were feeling built up. One had his arm ripped right of his body whilst another lost his foot, finally after a few minutes they all died cursing their error.

Victoria did her best to ignore the screams as they died and when it went silent she glanced back at Barry who looked ashamed.

"You couldn't have saved them," she said. "They were too far away and if we would have went after them then we would have died as well," she pointed out.

"I know but it doesn't make it any easier," Barry replied. "We're supposed to save them and not be forced to leave them to die because it risks others lives," he told her with a shake of his head. "God damn Umbrella," he spat before he grabbed the nearest shotgun and began to unload it into the zombies taking them down with accurate fire.

Head's exploded or limbs were blown clean off, but not once did Barry miss. Victoria was concerned for his state of mind before clearing her mind and retaking her own place in the line. She opened fire as well, all the while doing her best to keep her emotions under control.

Chris glanced back at where the blond girl was actually trying to fight the Tyrant with what looked like pointed sticks of wood. Shaking his head in amazement he wondered who the hell she and her friends were. Turning back to the zombies he nailed another in the head before his gun clicked empty, letting out a curse he quickly pulled the magazine and reloaded as Claire moved to his side and opened fire. She downed three of the approaching zombies with her opening shots, behind them Jill and Leon fired into the group of zombies coming at them from that direction. Giles, as he opened fire and took apart one of the zombies heads, turned to see how Buffy was doing, surprisingly she was still avoiding the hands of the hulking monster much to his relief.

Zabuto ensured that Kendra remained by his side, he had stopped her from following Buffy having heard the warning Jenny Calendar had shouted to the blond. He actually gave it more credit than Buffy had, although he wondered what kind of virus could have done this on such a scale. Jenny reloaded next to them before she brought down another two zombies. She shook her head at how many more kept coming. Xander did not like how this was turning out, they were cut off and surrounded and no more help was coming. Connor and Methos looked grim as they fought side by side, unloading their shotguns into the rapidly approaching horde.

"You have any ideas old man?" Connor inquired as he blew of the head off another zombie.

"Not really," Methos admitted reluctantly with a shake of his head as he took down another two in a shower of blood and gore before he had to reload. At this rate they would run out of ammo and quickly, granted they found plenty in the store, but if more and more zombies turned up they were going to be fucked. "But what I do know is we have to break out of here and quickly," he stated clearly.

"Yeah I agree," Connor said with a nod of his head as he opened fire again, but missed his target this time. "That is not going to be easy at the moment unless we can clear a path that allows us all to escape," he pointed out.

"The rocket launchers could do that," Methos responded as he glanced at the pile of weapons they had found from the shopping centre before turning back to the approaching zombies and opened fire again. Another zombie's head exploded as he did so. He ignored the gore and brains that shot outward as it died.

"We can't use them as we'll need them for that damn Tyrant once it is done with Buffy," Xander shouted at them, having heard their conversation. Tara glanced at him surprised by the certainty that Buffy would fail.

At first she was going to put it down to the feud they were engaged in, but then she dismissed it. From everything she had learned about Xander from Giles it was not in his character. She glanced at where Buffy was trying and failing to wound the massive monster with her stakes. ‘Could it be defeated by any normal means?' she wondered.

"How can you be sure she won't defeat it?" she found herself asking. "She has gone against things like that before and won," she pointed out drawing Xander's attention.

"True," Xander conceded with a nod of his head wondering who this new girl was and how she fit into Buffy's group. "But every time she has done so before she has had backup and in two major cases weapons that will do the job, which were supplied by me," he told her. "And the second time it almost wasn't enough. We had to hit the demon in a certain spot to kill it," he explained. "This time she is up against something she has no clue how to fight and is using weapons that won't even scratch it, that isn't a demon Miss," he informed her.

Tara glanced back at the monster in surprise before turning back to Xander. "Then what is it?" she asked surprised by this information.

"It is the ultimate manifestation of the virus that caused all that you see in front of you," Jill informed her, breaking into the conversation as she moved to get some more weapons. "If she gets even a scratch or a bite from these things she will be infected and after that she will die and rise as a zombie," she explained. "There is no cure, at least not at the moment. Xander is lucky to be alive thanks to his quickening which somehow beat the virus," she stated.

Tara was even more surprised to learn that this city was dying not because of demonic influence but by a man made virus and that Xander had been infected and only survived due to his Immortality. She turned back to see Buffy finally get a clear shot at the monster. She flung her stake at the creature's eyes. The stake landed true and the Tyrant staggered backwards a little while letting out a roar of pain, but it quickly recovered and before Buffy could even think of reacting she was flung into a wall of a nearby shop. The force of the blow almost knocked Buffy unconscious; letting out a groan she forced herself back to her feet.

She was unsteady and her eyes were unfocused, blood ran down from a cut on the forehead. She felt like she had been hit by a Mack truck. She heard the shouts of Giles and Willow, but she couldn't focus due to the head wound. She most likely had a concussion, staggering backwards she tried to get away from the monster. Xander let out a grunt of annoyance as he saw what was about to happen and despite everything that had happened between them in the past he began to run towards Buffy hoping to save her from the incoming attack. Jenny noted what Alex was going to do and quickly intercepted him knowing it was already too late. Leon and Rebecca moved to help keep him back and grabbed him from behind.

"Let me go," Xander demanded as he struggled to break free.

"It's too late Alex," Jenny insisted. "You would never reach her in time and most likely get yourself killed in the process," she told him. "You might have survived the infection once, but there is no telling if the quickening could fight it off a second time," she told him.

Giles shot to his feet in horror as he was forced to watch as three tentacles shot out of the Tyrants hand almost in slow motion. They ripped through Buffy's body as she tried to stagger back towards them. Willow let out a scream of horror as she watched events unfold. Oz simply stared in shock. Tara flinched and looked away. Kendra lowered her head in sorrow even though she had no longer been Buffy's friend she had still been a fellow Slayer. Zabuto shook his head, part in sorrow and part in anger at what Buffy's refusal to listen to Jenny's warning had now cost her.

Buffy looked down in shock at the tentacles that had impaled her body, one in the shoulder, one in the side and the third in the gut. She dropped to her knees as blood spurted out of her mouth as well as the wounds she had now sustained. Before the others could react she was picked up by the tentacles and flung into a bunch of cars that littered the car park they were in.

"Good Lord," Giles let out a gasp, unable to believe what he had just witnessed.

"NOOOO," Willow screamed, not wanting to believe Buffy had fallen. Oz grabbed her and kept her from trying to run to the blonds' fallen body.

"We have to keep firing at the damn zombies," Chris yelled at him and the others of Buffy's group. "Mourn later, fight now or we all die," he added, knowing exactly how they felt but knowing the only way they might survive this was to keep fighting.

Jenny released Xander who stepped away, sparing only a short glance at where Buffy's body had been flung. Leon and Rebecca quickly went back to firing at the zombies. He met Jenny's gaze and noted she was not sorry she had stopped him. He nodded at her knowing she had probably been right, he turned and went back to his place in the line. Jenny looked to where Buffy had been flung and instead of feeling any satisfaction at the blonds death due to her own stupidity in ignoring her warning, all she felt was pity and sorrow.

Tara had reloaded Xander's weapon and quickly handed it to him when he rejoined the line. She noted the deep sorrow he must have been feeling when she glanced into his eyes. This more than anything proved Xander was more in line with what Giles had told her and not like he had been described by Buffy and Willow. Connor and Methos only spared him a brief look of concern before they went back to firing at the zombies, which were beginning to thin out now.

"Are you okay?" Tara inquired as she picked up her own weapon and prepared to fire again.

"Not really," Xander responded. "No matter what went down between us in the past, I never wanted her dead," he admitted. "She didn't deserve to go out like that, but it was her own fault for ignoring the warning Jenny tried to give her," he added. "She never listened to anyone and this time it cost her dearly," he stated sadly.

"Why didn't we use the rocket launchers on that thing yet?" Tara asked as she brought down a zombie with the assault rifle she held. She didn't exactly like using a gun, but in this case it was the only thing she could do, she had no time to use her magic here.

"The Tyrant is to far away from us to use those to their best effectiveness Miss," Jill answered as she blew the heads of two more zombies, causing its fellows to be doused in their blood. "The closer it gets to us the better chance we can take it down for good. Sometimes all it takes is for us to hit the right mark," she explained grimly. "You have no idea how hard it is to bring a Tyrant down and we can't afford to waste the ammo we have for the launchers, unless we can be sure it will kill that thing," she finished knee capping another zombie before she blew its head off.

"I see," Tara responded while feeling a shiver run down her spine at the way that sounded and at how hard it seemed to be to kill the monster that had killed Buffy.

Giles finally shook himself back into action, but promised should he live through this to drown himself in drink later on. Willow cried as she fired her weapon unable to believe her best friend was gone. Jenny raised her own weapon and began firing as well. The survivors from the city bar Victoria began to give in to despair and fear.

"Keep firing," Barry shouted when he took note of their actions, making some of them jump. Mostly they ignored him, but a few actually went back to firing at the zombies.

+I+

Buffy stared up into the sky as she began to lose all focus and all feeling in her body. She felt sorrow that she would never again see Angel or her mother. She felt ashamed of her own anger that had led her to discount the warning Calendar had given. Had she listened, had she put aside her grudge with her then she might still be alive. Now it was too late to do anything and she finally lost all focus as her vision faded. She let out a sigh before going still. Buffy Summers the longest serving Slayer was dead.

"We can't stay here," Rebecca shouted. "We should try a break through while the horde is thinned," she suggested as she grabbed a shotgun from the pile of weapons they had.

"I still say it is to dangerous," Xander told her. "But given our situation I guess we have little choice," he admitted even as he blew a hole in the stomach of another zombie, spilling its guts everywhere.

"What do you think Chris?" Jill asked.

"If that Tyrant gets any closer we're not going to last very long," Chris responded as he reloaded before he put two bullets into the closest zombie's head. "It will be all the distraction the zombies will need to swamp us. A break out, while risky, may be our only option," he admitted, although they could all hear his hesitation in agreeing.

"Maybe I can increase our odds," Tara suggested, breaking into the conversation.

"How Miss?" Xander asked while facing her. "Exactly what role do you serve?" He paused as he realized his error and then stated anew. "What role did you serve in Buffy's group?" he asked.

"I'm a witch Alexander," Tara answered. "And my name is Tara Maclay," she added with a small smile, which quickly faded as she realized what Xander's correction pointed to.

"Witch?" Barry asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Never mind that right now Barry," Xander said with a brief glance. "How strong are you Tara?" he inquired, wondering if maybe magic might be their key to getting out of here alive.

"Stronger than Willow is at the moment, as I've been practicing since I was little," Tara answered. "If I had some help I could create some barriers that would give us time to get past the zombies," she advised.

"Is she serious?" Chris demanded, wondering why the hell they were talking about such nonsense at a time like this.

"Yeah she is," Xander responded. "Willow, get over here now, Jenny you too," he ordered, hoping this would work. Jenny quickly joined them, but Willow almost refused until Oz reminded her they still had people to save and Buffy would want her to help.

"What do you want Xander?" Willow demanded to know as her tear streaked gaze met his own for the first time in three years.

"We're going to attempt to break out before we get over run," Xander responded, ignoring his former best friend's hostility. "Tara suggested that she creates magical barriers to give us more time to run past the zombies and seen as you are both witches you can help her and most likely ensure the barriers hold up longer," he explained.

Jenny nodded in agreement. The plan sounded feasible, but she had concerns on how long they could keep the barriers up. She glanced at the red head who looked to be fighting of shock. That did not give her much confidence in her ability to help. Still they didn't have much choice here.

"Ok Alex," Jenny said. "We'll need a few minutes to prepare and then cast the spell," she told him. "Once we do cast it be prepared to order everyone to move," she stated seriously.

"Understood," Xander agreed before he told the others to spread the word they were moving out and to grab what weapons and ammo they could carry. Barry grabbed one of the rocket launchers while Chris took the other. Jill and Leon took a spare round each and prayed it would be enough.

The survivors continued to fire into the zombies which continued to stagger forwards, but more and more the horde was thinned out. Claire and Giles prepared to move as well. Giles cast one last look at where Buffy had fallen before turning away. Kendra and Zabuto glanced at the witches as they worked while they continued to fire into the zombies bring another three down, their blood coated the ground. They hoped whatever the witches were planning would work. They couldn't defend this place much longer.

"Do you really think this will work Xander?" Rebecca inquired, as Xander passed her.

"I hope so or we might be shit out of luck," Xander admitted truthfully, as he noted the Tyrant was closing in on them, but kept getting distracted by the zombies, which it tore apart as easily as it did most humans. Time was running out for them. He glanced back to where Jenny, Tara and Willow stood discussing the spell they were going to use and prayed they could do it.  
14\. Chapter 14  
Chapter 14

(Flashback, Sunnydale)

Xander watched as Oz talked with Buffy and Willow off to the side of the library, he could already guess what they were talking about. He shook his head and refocused on what Giles and Zabuto were talking about along with Jenny and Kendra. Now that they had the heavy weapons they wanted to try and find the vak'eral and kill it as quickly as possible. He just hoped the weapons they had stolen would do the job, from what they had found out about the demon in question it was not going to be easy to kill, even with the heavy weapons.

Buffy frowned as she listened to Oz's report of what had happened during the raid on the army base, she was disturbed to say the least to hear that Xander had been killed and come back to life again. That confirmed that everything Zabuto and Giles had said, about him and Calendar being Immortal was true.

Willow didn't know how to feel on the subject at all. Xander had been a part of her life since her youngest years, but since Buffy had turned up she had felt her friendship with him eroding, right up to the point that she had turned her back on him when everything blew up with Angel becoming Angelus. He should have supported Buffy in her time of need, but instead he had allowed his jealousy of Angel to get in the way of being a good friend.

A small part of her was upset Xander was now basically cursed to live forever unless he died permanently, granted Giles and Zabuto had refused to say how that could happen, but there would be a way that was for sure.

Buffy glanced back at where Xander stood listening to the watchers talk. She had to force herself not to attack him, but she swore when this was over she would get rid of Xander and the Gypsy bitch. Oz waited for either of the two girls to speak; as he waited Cordelia entered the library and moved to join Xander and the others instead of joining them.

"So what do we do about this Buffy?" Willow finally broke the silence, noting the angry glare Buffy was shooting at Xander and Calendar.

"Nothing we can do right now thanks to Zabuto," Buffy hissed in response. "He's made it clear what will happen if we don't do as he says, but when this is over I will have my revenge," she spat.

"What about Angel?" Willow asked hesitantly, knowing this had to be killing her friend.

Buffy looked away and did her best to keep from breaking down, because she knew that within a few hours it was most likely that her lover would be gone forever. There was no way out of what was going to happen, she would have to kill him or failing that Kendra would do the deed. She fumed silently, wishing that this had not happened, but it had and she had no option left to her but to kill Angel. Willow hugged her and did her best to comfort her, but it did little good. Oz just watched and was unsure what to say and doubting it would help anyway.

"Miss Summers," Zabuto interrupted them, "if you would be so kind as to join us, we believe we have a plan to hunt down not only the vak'eral, but also Angelus and the rest of the Scourge," he informed her.

Buffy glared at him but the watcher was unimpressed and just stared back at her until she shuffled over to them, Willow and Oz followed her, wondering what kind of plan they had come up with.

Zabuto then laid down the plan to them all with some input from Giles every now and again. It wasn't a complex plan that was for sure, but Buffy was sure it would work. Angelus would come for her. She didn't even mind playing the bait, maybe getting this over quickly would spare her even greater pain than if it was drawn out.

"Are you certain this is a good idea?" Jenny inquired of Zabuto as they broke up to prepare for the night ahead. "Putting Buffy as bait will clearly draw Angelus out, but the question is will she be able to actually fight should he attack," she added with a frown. She was not a friend of the blond Slayer anymore, but that didn't mean she wanted her dead.

"I believe it is the only way we will draw Angelus out," Zabuto answered. "I think if we do not use his weakness for Miss Summers against him then we will not get a chance to end him," he explained. "He will hide behind his followers and the vak'eral demon instead. Remember he is smart and dangerous and this fits his profile," he reminded her.

"I have to agree," Xander said from beside her. "Since Angelus came back the only time he messes up is when confronted by Buffy or in close proximity to her," he pointed out, while he ran a hand through his hair. "It's like he has a blank spot where she is concerned," he added.

"Ok I get that Alex, I really do," Jenny relented, frowning a little as she did so. "But that doesn't make me feel any better about this. If Buffy will not fight Angelus then all we are doing is serving her up on a platter and no matter how I feel about her I don't want to see her dead," she stated clearly, hoping they would see her point.

"Neither do I Jenny," Xander replied, letting out a sigh as he fought between his good memories of Buffy and the more recent bitter ones. "She has to fight Angelus now, she has no other option," he finally stated as he pushed the memories away and focused on the facts as he knew them. "She can't run from it, she can't hide from it and she can't change it," he added.

"I know it is a risk, but it is a necessary one," Zabuto finally broke into the conversation. "Miss Summers must face Angelus if she is to survive beyond this point," he explained to them, somewhat frustrated he had been forced into making the blond slayer do this, but he saw no other way to ensure she did her duty. "Her very survival is now at stake, the council will not accept anything less than her doing her duty and slaying Angelus," he informed them grimly. "She has brought herself to this point and if she wants to live then she must act. I believe you understand this stance?" he inquired.

"Yeah I guess I do," Xander agreed. "I just hope she has it in her to do the job or she will find herself in bigger trouble," he added with a frustrated shake of his head.

Part of him knew he and Jenny had brought events to this point by calling Kendra and Zabuto, but he knew there was no other choice. Buffy had refused to act as did the others, thus to save lives they had acted instead. It had been the right call, he was sure of that, but he didn't want to be responsible for Buffy's death should it reach that point due to her own refusal to do her job.

"If she doesn't have it in her to do the job then she is useless as a Slayer," Jenny finally said what they were all thinking but refusing to admit. "She would be just as bad a threat as a normal vampire. People have and will continue to die due to her refusal to act," she continued to vent. "How many people are you willing to risk to give her chances to shape up?" she asked both of them.

Neither answered as they turned away to prepare their own equipment for the night ahead. Jenny watched knowing her point was valid, but also knowing it was a grim point at best, especially if Buffy was not up to the job and died as a result.

+I+

(Rockville, Indiana)

Jenny shook her head annoyed for letting her concentration slip at such an important point, for some reason that memory had surfaced clearer than any other. She wondered if Buffy's death had brought it out and so she glanced over at where Xander stood talking to Jill as they reloaded the weapons as they prepared for the break out to come and wondered if he was suffering the same thing.

"Are you okay Miss Calendar?" Tara's gentle voice brought her focus back on what was important. She noted that while Tara looked concerned, Willow was glaring at her. ‘No surprise there,' she thought.

"Sorry, my mind drifted a little," she finally responded. "It happens sometimes to all Immortals, even when we don't want it to," she explained with a sad smile.

"Who cares?" Willow growled. "Do you have the spell down or not?" she demanded to know. She was angry and resentful especially at the woman in front of her, Buffy was dead and she wanted to blame Calendar for it as she was an easy target.

"Yes Willow I got the spell down," Jenny growled out in response. "The question is can you focus enough to hold your part of it?" she inquired worried what witnessing Buffy's death would do to the redhead's frame of mind.

Willow just glared at her before nodding her head and turning away. Tara looked unsure at how well this would go considering the raw hatred she could feel between her two fellow witches. She let out a sigh before she started casting and a few seconds later Jenny began her own casting and finally Willow began hers a few seconds after that. Chris and Barry who were still unloading into the oncoming horde were shocked as slowly bit by bit, some kind of barrier appeared between them and the zombies which were still closing in on them.

"What in god's name?" Barry gasped almost dropping his prised magnum before rubbing his eyes furiously, he was sure he was seeing things.

"That my friends, is magic," Xander said with a smirk as he noted their shocked looks. "I told you it was real, we'll give it a few minutes and then we run. Got it?" he stated to the whole group who nodded although most looked uncertain if this was a good idea.

"This is incredible," Jill mumbled as she watched as more and more barriers appeared and separated them from the zombies, giving them a decent shot at breaking out. ‘Question is, how long those three can keep the barriers up?' she wondered internally.

"No offense, but are you sure they can keep the magic going long enough for us to get away from the horde?" Rebecca inquired asking the question Jill had really wanted answering.

"I can't say for sure Rebecca, as I don't know how powerful they really are. Tara says she is strong and I know Jenny is good with the magic stuff and I am sure Willow has come along in that regard as well," Xander said, doing his best to reassure her while at the same time giving her an honest answer. "I suggest no one drags their feet," he stated as he finished reloading the weapons and then began handing them out to the survivors.

"This is going to be tough as that damn Tyrant is closing in on us," Leon warned them as he reloaded his own weapon. "I suggest we all be prepared for it to catch up to us," he suggested with a worried glance at Claire who caught the look and tried to give him a reassuring look.

She knew he was far more worried about her safety than he was with his own or as bad as it sounded anyone else's, they had formed a bond that was stronger than anything she had ever felt from their time in Racoon. She was certain she and Leon were in love with one another, but sadly they had never admitted that fact or tried to build anything due to the ever present war against Umbrella that dominated their lives, as it did their friends. Hell she was sure had none of this happened then Chris and Jill may have become a couple, but that time had passed now and was nothing more than a forgotten possibility.

The two were and would always be partners, always watching each others backs, but any chance of romance between them had died back in the Spencer Mansion. She wouldn't have minded having Jill as a sister in law, shaking her head she turned her thoughts away from the past and moved to the present. Everyone watched as the three witches continued to chant for another three minutes before they gave the signal to start running. Xander remained to cover their rear along side Chris and Leon.

"MOVE," Barry roared and almost as one the survivors began to run, followed by others. Connor and Methos quickly moved to the front of the pack while the others moved up to the sides and rear.

The whole group ran as fast as they could, hoping the barriers would hold. For Jenny, Tara and Willow it was hard to run and keep the concentration to hold up the barriers but they managed. Xander glanced back to see how they were doing, the back barriers he noted were beginning to crack and he guessed they had only minutes before they failed completely. He bit back a curse knowing this was going to be close. They kept a heavy pace, but they all knew they could not keep it up for long.

They made it three blocks before the barriers failed altogether as Jenny and Tara finally lost their concentration and the strength to keep going, Willow had already lost both a block before. They knew the horde would close in on them fast, as some had already found a way through some of the cracks as the barriers failed. They finally came to a stop as the survivors began to slow down from extenuation. Chris leaned against the wall of a nearby house, wondering how long they had before the undead caught up with them.

"We can't stay here long," Claire voiced his own thoughts as she took in deep breathes.

"We can't go on without some rest," one of the survivors complained from where he had collapsed onto the floor. "I am wiped out," he added.

The majority of the survivors agreed with the man from where they either leaned against something or knelt, all of them were doing their best to recover. Victoria was leaning against Barry just as tired as the others, but she knew Claire and her friends were right. They didn't have much time before the monsters came back.

+I+

A few blocks back where they had been Buffy Summer's body lay where it had fallen alongside many others. However a few minutes after the break out her eyes snapped open before they turned white. The holes from the tentacles healed as her body began to mutate. Her hair fell out as her head enlarged. Mucus and blood erupted out of her mouth as her teeth sharpened and her body began to grow larger in muscle mass and size until she began to resemble the creature that had ended her life. The transformation was completed within a few minutes, and the thing that used to be Buffy Summers got back up and let out a mighty roar. Whilst it resembled a Tyrant it was far bigger and looked more deadly than ever. A stray scent caught its attention and it quickly turned and headed after its former allies.

+I+

Before any of the other survivors could say anything else one of the buildings exploded outwards and one of the survivors died as a chunk of the house hit him dead on. His head was caved in by the force of the hit and the other survivors scattered and just barely avoided being hit. Chris and the others backed off, already guessing what had caused the explosion. They weren't wrong as the smoke cleared to reveal the large daunting presence of the Tyrant which quickly roared at them.

"Oh shit," Xander paled as he stared at the Tyrant, having flashbacks to the beating and death he had already suffered at its hands hours before.

"Get the rocket launchers ready," Connor ordered as he opened fire with his shotgun.

One by one the others opened fire as well, all bar Chris and Barry who quickly took out the rocket launchers and prepared them. The Tyrant quickly began to advance on them again. One of the survivors got caught by the huge monster as he tried to run away. He was picked up before a tentacle ripped through his face sending blood everywhere.

"Oh god that is sick," Victoria gasped as she backed away, horrified and unable to keep herself in place.

Connor and Methos pushed forward along side the others, unloading everything they could into the Tyrant, but it did little to slow the thing down. It picked up another of the survivors who had paused to reload his weapon. The man cried for help, but it was useless as the Tyrant snapped his neck before flinging the man into Leon who was flung backwards by the force. Claire only barely stopped herself from going to check on him. Barry let out a growl as he brought the rocket launcher up and took aim. Chris quickly mirrored his stance; they now waited for the best shot.

Xander quickly noted where the Tyrant was going to strike next and he charged and pushed Jill out of the way, as it sent a dozen or so tentacles at where she had been standing.

"You ok?" he inquired as they got back to their feet.

"Yeah, thanks for the save," Jill responded feeling her heart beat a mile a minute at how close she had once again come to been killed by one of these things. ‘It was almost becoming a habit,' she thought darkly before she recovered her weapon and opened fire again.

"Fire god damn it," one of the survivors shouted as he witnessed another of his fellow survivors being torn in two in a shower of blood and guts.

The Tyrant let out another roar as it was soaked in the blood of its victim. Leon regained his feet and quickly opened fire again and did his best to ignore the ringing in his ear. Tara finally recovered from not only the shock of seeing the Tyrant up close, but also the tiredness she felt from keeping the magical barriers up for so long. She summoned what magic she had left and unleashed it on the Tyrant with a flame spell. Jenny unleashed a weak ice spell in an attempt to freeze the monster but failed. Her own magical reserves still low from the previous casting. Willow found she had nothing left and quickly backed up and hid behind Oz who unloaded his shotgun at the Tyrants legs.

Giles reloaded his rifle as fast as he could but he was certain the Tyrant would reach them before he was ready. Connor and Methos just barely avoided being torn to pieces as the Tyrant tried to slam its fist down where they had been standing.

"Fire the damn launchers," Methos growled as he climbed back to his feet.

"We can't until we have the prime shot, otherwise we'll just waste the damn ammo," Chris shouted back in response, understanding their reactions but knowing they could not put the Tyrant down without scoring the best possible shot.

"He's right," Rebecca said while moving up to the sides of Methos and Connor who both glanced at her. "We don't have the ammo to waste and if we don't hit the prime shot then this thing will just keep coming after us," she stated with a frown. "And then we'll all be dead," she added darkly.

"Is there no other way of bringing one of these things down?" Connor inquired, his tone indicating annoyance and frustration.

"I'm afraid not," Rebecca answered with a shake of her head. "And we don't have time to look for one as those damn zombies are going to be on our asses again quite soon," she reminded him.

"How about using magic against it?" Zabuto inquired as he fired his last shot into the Tyrant's head but frowned as he noted the Tyrant only paused before advancing once more.

"We're too tired from the barrier spell to try anything big enough to bring this thing down I'm afraid, Mr. Zabuto," Jenny countered with a shake of her head.

Xander was about to reload when another explosion came from behind him and sent him flying into Tara. The two crashed into the ground scraping their arms and legs. Both grunted in pain as they rolled to a stop, everyone turned to look at the new threat and instantly all looked horrified. The new Tyrant roared at them as its left hand instantly transformed into multiple tentacles, it then began to advance on Jenny, Kendra and Zabuto.

"Where the fuck did that thing come from?" Oz gasped as he backed off some more puling Willow with him.

"I have no idea," Jill mumbled in response. "We only believed there was one Tyrant in this city," she added as an afterthought.

"Something must have caused the virus to mutate even more," Rebecca shouted to the others. "As that is unlike any Tyrant I've seen before," she pointed out.

As they continued to pull back zombies began to appear around them and they knew they were about to be in even worse trouble. Victoria managed to rally the survivors and get them to focus on the undead. Giles, Oz and Willow moved to aide them, each knowing they had no chance against the Tyrants.

Chris and Barry decided to aim at a Tyrant each and prayed they hit both dead on. Rebecca, Jill, Leon and Claire quickly moved to cover them. When Xander noted how close the new Tyrant had gotten to Jenny, who continued to open fire on the new threat he forced himself back to his feet and ran to help or pull her back. Zabuto and Kendra turned and ran as their weapons ran dry. Jenny found herself rooted to the spot and continued to fire her shotgun whilst a P90 dangled from a strap over her shoulder.

The fight was in full flight now as more zombies reached them. Xander suddenly heard the roar of the Tyrant near him as he closed in on it and Jenny. ‘Noooo,' he thought as he quickly pushed himself to go faster, even as his legs protested from the pain. He had to save Jenny who continued to shot at the thing before finally backing away, but she had waited to long. To his horror he saw the new Tyrant move closer to Jenny and his horror grew ever more as he saw Jenny who wasn't far from some of the survivors get caught by one of its tentacles.

The survivors cut down five more of the rapidly approaching zombies before two of their number were brought down. They screamed in terror as their stomachs were ripped open and their insides were ripped and torn from their bodies. Blood pooled around them as the zombies feasted on them. Victoria pulled the magnum from Barry's belt as he tried to find a good point to hit on the new Tyrant. Turning around she blew the heads of two attacking zombies who were eating the fallen survivors.

Jenny continued to back away as she continued to fire at the Tyrant, after she spent the whole clip of the P90 she had picked up, she threw it away and drew her sword. Sadly the P90 hadn't done much and as she was brought up to eye level with the Tyrant she plunged her sword into the things face. It roared in pain, but refused to drop her. She pulled her sword free and tried to hit it again. This time she managed to free herself as she stabbed one of the things eyes.

Xander quickly disposed of two zombies before him and started to run into the direction where his love was fighting against that monster. He saw how Jenny ducked a swing of the Tyrant and hit him with her sword, opening a small wound on its stomach. It roared loudly and tried to hit the woman again. Seeing this Xander ran a bit faster, but was suddenly stopped by a zombie that grabbed at him.

He quickly decapitated it with his sword, but the distraction was long enough for the other fight to take a new direction. As he started to run again he saw Jenny attack the Tyrant again. Her blade went smoothly into the belly of the monster, but before she could pull the blade out again the Tyrant grabbed her arm and with a loud ‘snap' broke it.

Meanwhile Giles blew a hole in another zombie as it tried to pull down Zabuto just as Kendra took down another with her rifle.

Jenny's scream of pain spurred Xander to run even faster, but he was still more than 20 meters away as he saw how the Tyrant grabbed his love again. While he ran he could only watch in horror as the Tyrant roared loudly and then with one huge act of brutal strength ripped Jenny's head off. While her blood was still spraying in every direction hitting and soaking Xander who had gotten close enough to be hit, her quickening shot out of her body and hit the Tyrant full front just as Xander reached their position. Finding no Immortal in the monster the quickening left it smoking and hit the nearest Immortal, this happened to be Xander, who was in an enraged high kick to embed his blade into the monster that just had killed his lover.

As the quickening hit him he had time enough to yell a shocked. "NOOOO!" before the pain overcame him and he fell to the ground watching in even more emotional pain as the memories and energy from Jenny filled his body and soul. Tara forced herself back to her feet and rushed to Xander's side alongside Jill and began to pull him away as Chris finally fired on the first Tyrant as he finally saw the prime shot. The missile hit the Tyrant right in the mouth. The explosion ripped the Tyrants head apart in a spray of blood and the huge body rocked side to side for a few moments before it collapsed to the ground.

The second Tyrant began to move again even as it continued to smoke from whatever Jenny's quickening had done to it and so Barry quickly fired his own launcher hitting it square in the back. It exploded on target and sent it back to the ground. Xander broke free of Tara and Jill and rushed forward and slammed his sword down into monsters brain. He then reached down and picked up Jenny's sword. He noted trails of Jenny's quickening running up and down the blade before he rammed it into the monsters back where its heart should be. Xander stared down at the downed monster ignoring the blood than ran down his face, he felt an almost overwhelming urge to just give up, but he knew it would not be what Jenny wanted him to do.

"We've got to get out of here now before anymore of those zombies catch up to us," Jill shouted as she moved back to Xander's side, just as he removed both swords. She did her best to ignore the dead almost vacant look in his eyes, it was almost as if he did not have any life left in him after he saw Jenny die.

She noted his look turn to rage as he turned to glance at her and suppressed a shiver. She tried to get him to run, but he kept refusing until Methos knocked him out with a hard punch and heaved him over his shoulder before he took of running again. The others quickly followed as Chris, Barry and Connor laid down some covering fire before they too ran. The zombies once again began to pursue them and the second Tyrant once again began to move as the virus reanimated it.  
15\. Chapter 15  
Chapter 15

(Flashback, Sunnydale)

Xander watched from the darkened shadows as Buffy patrolled the graveyard they were in. She was at least keeping an eye out for trouble as she played bait. He and he others would remain in cover until Angelus actually showed himself, what he was worried about was the damn vak'eral demon that had killed him and Jenny. It was far more dangerous than even the Judge had been and he was certain it would prove to be hard to kill even with the rocket launcher and other heavy weapons he had stolen from the army base.

Jenny was slightly nervous and kept shifting every so often. He guessed she was not looking forward to seeing the demon, which had destroyed their lives, again. Kendra was tense and ready for action. She clearly wanted to finally get into action against Angelus who had somehow corrupted her fellow Slayer into inactivity.

He expected that any respect Kendra used to have for Buffy had been completely destroyed by her recent actions. Willow and Oz remained at the back of the group, while Cordelia remained close to him and Jenny and in the middle stood Zabuto and Giles. Giles was clearly nervous and afraid that Buffy would not defend herself should Angelus show himself. It was something he and Jenny had already discussed with Zabuto. However he was adamant this was the only way to draw Angelus out. Sadly they couldn't disagree with him, still if Buffy didn't defend herself they knew that in all likelihood she would end up dead.

Kendra suddenly came to a dead stop and she pulled two of her stakes out, she then relaxed into a position that allowed her to be ready to jump into action. Xander loaded his crossbow as did Willow and Oz, while Jenny prepared to cast whatever spell came to mind. Giles and Zabuto however began to prepare the rocket launcher. Clearly they expected the vak'eral to show itself as well. Buffy finally came to a halt as well and pulled one of her own stakes just as three vampires charged her from the side. They watched as Buffy fought them. Her moves were far more viscous than normal. She shattered one of the vampire's kneecaps making it scream in pain before she staked it.

The second vampire ended up kneed in the privates as it tried to put her in a bear hug. The undead monster howled in agony as it clutched its wounded privates which allowed Buffy to easily stake it. Xander and the other males couldn't help but wince at this, and they all had the similar thought of ‘I'm glad it wasn't me'. The last vampire jumped back to its feet from where it had been thrown and charged Buffy again. She ducked and rolled away before she turned and flung her stake at it. She hit it dead centre in the heart and it had only a second left to look shocked before it dusted. Buffy looked satisfied as she moved to collect her stake and of course this was the exact point where Angelus revealed himself. He charged her from behind just as she turned to face him, having suddenly felt another vampire close by.

"He took the bait," Cordelia noted with relief as she hefted her own crossbow.

"Of course he did," Xander responded grimly. "As I said where Buffy is concerned he has a blank spot," he added.

"Yeah like you would know how he thinks," Willow said darkly as she glared at her former friend.

"Give it a rest Willow," Xander spat at her, still annoyed and saddened at the red heads actions of late, especially where they concerned Buffy and Angelus. "I did what I had to do to save lives, because you wouldn't do the job and you wouldn't make Buffy do it either," he reminded her as he moved closer to her and glared back, ignoring Oz's suitable shift closer to them. "You used to care about that but now all you are is Buffy's blind follower. You are even worse than the sheep that follows Cordy around, because at least they don't risk people's lives with their actions," he growled at her. "You helped bring this matter to a head, you forced me to do something so live with it," he finished before turning away. He ignored the outraged look on his former friend's face as he moved away.

"Nice speech," Cordelia said quietly as he rejoined her and Jenny. "I can't say I disagree either. My followers, as you call them, are at least idiots for normal teenage reasons, while Willow does it to please Buffy and ignores the danger and death her actions causes," she mused.

Jenny winced as Buffy was back handed into a tree by Angelus, but she quickly got back up and attacked again. It was clear that the blond haired slayer had kept Zabuto's warning in mind as she was actually truly fighting Angelus and was not pulling any punches. There was still no sign of the vak'eral yet, but she was sure it was close. She glanced at Xander who was watching the fight intently. He was tense and ready to react should the vak'eral show itself. The question was where was it? She expected Angelus to keep it close.

‘What's the matter lover, not pleased to see me?" Angelus taunted Buffy, which echoed in the otherwise silent graveyard and made them all go quite and listen.

"Just shut up," Buffy screamed back. "You are not him, you are not Angel," she growled as she circled him. "You are the thing that killed him, the thing that is forcing me to destroy his body and ensure that he can never be saved," she continued.

"You are seriously delusional girl if you think you can destroy me," Angelus replied with confidence, his usually smirk gracing his features. "As to my souled self, the smuck deserved to get destroyed as he made me feel love for you slayer," he continued his tone darkening. "No, he can burn in hell where he belongs and you'll always remember that you sent him there when you made the mistake of making love to him," he added, looking sick as he talked. "Maybe had you just fucked him like it didn't matter he'd still be here Buffy, this is all on you," he finished and they could all tell the taunts had hit their mark as Buffy began to snarl at him as her anger erupted and she charged.

But Angelus was ready for her and backhanded her backwards into a nearby gravestone. She hit it hard, but quickly regained her feet and charged again. This time she ducked under the shot Angelus sent at her and hit him in the mid section with all the strength she had. Angelus let out a gasp of pain as he was flung backwards. He realized Buffy was using her anger at the entire situation to ensure she did her job and that meant she could very well stake him, growling low in his throat he gave the signal to his followers.

Buffy didn't take her attention of Angelus as she felt more vampires show up. She was confident in Giles, Willow, Oz and even the others who she now despised in keeping them away from her, while she did what she had to do. She glared at Angelus again before she shot forward, hoping to catch him off guard, but he blocked her blows and tried to force her into the defensive. Behind them Kendra led the charge into the newly arrived vampires who had come to help Angelus, but there was no Spike or Drusilla and no vak'eral.

Xander had only a brief moment to wonder where they had got to before he was attacked by one of the vampire minions. Kendra moved through the vampires with ease using only as much effort as she needed to stake them. She was centered and ready for action, behind her Giles and Zabuto used crossbows to bring down more and while not always landing a killing shot they were still slowed down and it allowed Kendra to stake them all the easier.

Willow and Oz stayed back to back and used their own crossbows only they were not as accurate as the two watchers. Jenny used her magic to roast any vampire foolish enough to get into her arc of fire, while Cordelia used a crossbow to cover her in between castings, although her accuracy was slightly better than Willow and Oz.

+I+

(Motorway)

Spike smirked as he drove his car as fast as it could go. He finally had enough of Angelus been back and he was certain the smuck was going to get them all killed with his insane actions of late. It seemed being caged with a soul had unhinged him completely. The constant barbs at his expense had pissed him off all the more and thus he had been waiting for a chance to get out and as far away from him and Sunnydale as he could. Now finally he had that chance, of course he had to knock Dru out as she refused to go with him. So he had done just that and then tied her up as tightly as she could. He knew she was going to be pissed at him, but in the end at least they'd both survive what he was certain was going to be an explosive end. He just hoped Angelus got his stupid ass staked when that end came, or he knew he'd come hunting for him and it would not be a very nice reunion.

+I+

(Graveyard, Sunnydale)

Xander ducked the wild swing from the vampire and brought his knee up into its exposed stomach, this surprised the vampire and allowed him to drop to the ground and sweep its legs out from under it and quickly stake it. But before he could regain his feet fully the vak'eral demon finally showed itself.

It hit him full force and send him flying into a tree. The blow stunned him, but he forced himself back to his feet. He drew the sword he had brought with him, having already begun training into how to use one since learning what he was. Just looking at the massive demon made him have flashes of the torture he and Jenny had undergone at its hands, his anger spiked at this and he attacked even though he knew he would do little damage to it.

Kendra smashed her fist into another of the vampire's faces as it attacked, this time with a weapon. The blow knocked it back which allowed her to follow up with a kick to its chest with such force that it broke a couple of its ribs. The creature collapsed to the ground in pain and she quickly staked it and put it out of its misery. Glancing around she noted that the numbers of vampires had quickly dwindled, but the vak'eral had joined the fight. She winced as Xander took a blow to his chest which knocked back into a tree that was behind him. She quickly pulled her own sword and moved to help him. She jumped right over another vampire and as it turned to follow her Giles quickly rammed a stake into its back dusting it instantly. She jumped and launched herself into a flying kick aimed at the demon's head. She only staggered it slightly and the impact itself hurt her more than it hurt the demon. She backed off as Xander pushed himself back to his feet to join her in facing off against it, hopefully they could draw its attention long enough for Zabuto and the others to kill the remaining vampires and use the heavy weapons to hopefully kill this thing.

Buffy staggered back to her feet and wiped the blood from her mouth as Angelus looked at her cockily. She hated to see such a look on her former lover's face. It was not the look of Angel and it drove home the fact he was gone forever. She glanced back to see her friends had killed nearly all of his vampire minions, but the vak'eral had shown up. She had to end this now and help put that thing down, still even though they might have been proven right it did nothing to dispel the hatred she now felt for Xander and Calendar. She palmed her last stake as she had already lost her other two and prepared to attack again, but before she could move Angelus struck first and forced her backwards. Managing to duck another blow that might have actually knocked her out, she lashed out and struck him in the throat as he moved to strike again.

Angelus staggered backwards stunned by the blow as his throat had almost been crushed by it. He moved to defend himself when Buffy followed it up with a kick to his kneecap with enough force to shatter it.

He collapsed to one knee as Buffy brought her knee up and hit him in the face. As he fell backwards Buffy brought her stake up and held it right above his heart. Angelus chuckled as he noted her sudden hesitancy to land the killing blow. He would survive this he decided, but before he ran he would taunt her.

"Still can't do it, can you?" he asked with a grin. "Just run away little girl, hide under your bed because the next time I will drain you dry or more likely turn you and make you my new bitch," he swore. "Maybe I'll make you as insane as my Dru after making you watch me feed on your mother before I take her with all the force I can muster," he continued, missing the growing rage his words ignited in Buffy. "I'll make her scream as I break her and you and in the end you'll both be my slaves," he finished.

Buffy could almost see the things Angelus was describing. She knew he had done it to other families in the past. She would not allow him anywhere near her mother, no matter what it cost her personally. To protect her she finally found the will to bring her stake down into Angelus's heart. Angelus had only a second to realize his error and for a look of shock to cross his features before he dusted. Buffy forced the tears back that threatened to fall as she realized what she had just done. Now there was no way for Angel to ever come back. She had lost him for good. Getting back to her feet she turned and charged the vak'eral demon that was currently beating Kendra at every turn.

Her fellow Slayer was already covered in blood from multiple wounds and she noted Xander and Jenny's bodies lying still nearby. Clearly the demon had killed both again. She paid them little heed though as she knew they'd be back up soon. Their new ability was handy for them, but it just made her distrust and hate them all the more. She jumped and hit the thing with a kick to its side, but she barely moved it instead she draw its attention to her. She backed off and tried to circle the damn thing as Kendra collapsed back to her knees. Cordelia, Giles and Oz managed to finally kill the last of the vampires Angelus had brought with them. Three more fled after they saw Angelus actually get staked. Their leader had been so damn sure the Slayer would never do it. Now they knew for sure he had been dead wrong and he had paid the price for believing it.

Giles pulled one of the heavy weapons out of the bag they had been carrying before the attack had happened. Zabuto quickly went to retrieve the other one. He had already noted the state his charge was in and they needed to move fast before it ended up killing either her or Summers. Willow moved to fire her crossbow at the hulking demon, but Oz stopped her with a slight shake of his head. Xander let out a gasp as he came back to life for what had to be the third time. Jenny reawakened a few seconds later looking slightly out of it.

"You okay?" he inquired as he pushed himself into a sitting position.

"Yeah I think so," Jenny responded as she tried to get used to the fact she had just come back to life again. The last thing she remembered was the vak'eral's hand breaking her neck. It was a disquieting feeling to know she'd had her neck broken and yet it felt like it had never happened.

"Kendra, are you okay?" Xander asked as he noted the slayer lying close by, looking somewhat worse for wear.

"Barely," Kendra responded after a few seconds, she was clearly in pain. "That thing is the hardest thing I've ever fought before," she admitted as she tried to push herself back to her feet but failed.

"Easy," Xander told her as he moved to her side as did Jenny. "It looks like you've taken some bad hits," he explained as he checked her for injuries. "Yeah you've got some broken ribs, you need to lie still until you start healing" he stated.

"But the demon," Kendra began to protest, but Jenny cut her off.

"Buffy and the rest of us can deal with it Kendra, now lie still before you end up making your injuries worse or maybe getting yourself killed," Jenny warned her. "Angelus has at least been dealt with and so our main mission has been accomplished," she told her. "Now rest Kendra, hopefully the weapons we stole from the army base will do the job," she added with what she hoped was a hopeful smile.

Xander grabbed his fallen sword and rushed back into the fight distracting the vak'eral from landing what might have been a killing blow to Buffy, who like Kendra had taken some bad knocks. Xander managed to lodge his sword into the things back, before he was flung backwards as the monster turned and smashed his first into him. The force of the hit actually knocked him out for a moment or so, when he came to he found himself leaning against a headstone as Giles and Zabuto finally fired the rocket launchers. He watched as the rockets stroke at the vak'eral who let out a roar as it noted the new threat, the rockets hit it hard. One in the chest and one closer to its head, the explosion was loud and forced all of them to drop to the ground. Blood and guts rained down, coating Buffy and Xander who were still closest to it and finally silence descended on the area.

"They worked," Cordelia said in a relieved tone. "I thought for a minute there it was actually going to survive," she mused.

"It seems when it comes to demons like the Judge and the vak'eral, heavy weapons such as this is the way to go," Giles conceded with a slight frown.

"I take it Angelus is dust as well Miss Summers?" Zabuto inquired as he moved to check on Kendra who still lay on the ground with Jenny near her.

"Yes, I did it," Buffy snapped in an annoyed tone as she held her side which pained her from one particular nasty hit. "He's gone. Okay?" she added.

"Spike and Drusilla were not a part of the force," Xander pointed out as he finally felt ready to move. "My guess is they are either still at their hideout or they split," he suggested.

"Knowing Spike he split," Buffy growled annoyed to know the blond vampire and his insane girlfriend were still out there.

"Now what?" Oz inquired.

"We go back to the library and discuss what just happened and what happens next," Zabuto responded as he gently helped Kendra back to her feet.

Xander didn't miss the look Buffy shot him and Jenny as they all began to head back. He let out a sigh as he suspected now that Angelus was finally dust and the vak'eral had been dealt with they were finally going to have it out with it ending only one of two ways.

+I+

(Rockville, Indiana, now)

Xander jerked away as the memory faded as he looked around wildly for a minute or two, as things came into focus he noted he had been tied down and they were now in some kind of warehouse. It took him a minute to realize why he was tied down. He let out a scream of agony as the realization that Jenny was dead permanently hit him full force. His cry of pain brought Tara, Jill and Rebecca to him. Each looked very worried about his state of mind, not that he blamed them, but right now he didn't care how they viewed him.

"Let me go," he ordered.

"We can't do that Xander," Jill told him gently, hating to see him in such pain. "We need you to regain control of yourself before we go back out," she added.

"I know you are hurting right now Alex, but you need to calm down and think," Rebecca said as Xander glared at them. "We need your help to get out of here alive, we need you focused," she stated, hoping he would at least listen to her.

"Let me go," Xander repeated his order basically ignoring what they had said, as all he wanted to do was vent his anger and pain on anything he could, be it zombie, vampire or the damn Tyrant that had killed Jenny.

"You know we won't," Connor said as he entered the room, having heard the argument as well as his student's scream of pain. "I know how much you are hurting right now. I know just what you are going through Xander, but right now is not the time to vent your grief" he told him. "Jenny wouldn't want you to die here, she'd want you to survive," he reminded him.

"You don't understand Connor," Xander spat. "I have her memories in my head. I know everything she did and it is killing me," he raged. "I know you've lost love ones before, but you've never had an immortal love's quickening inside you," he continued. "To know their love for you and know it is forever gone," he said as the rage began to bleed away and was replaced with grief. "To know she'll never fade because she is inside you," he finished.

"No I don't know what that is like," Connor agreed. "But she still would want you to survive," he told him. "We'll be moving out in an hour or two once we've rested. We are close to the city limits now," he added. "So please use that time to focus yourself on getting out of here alive and if not that then helping everyone else get out alive," he stated before he turned and left.

Rebecca left as well after checking to make sure Xander was at least physically well. Jill also left when she noted Xander wasn't going to be up to any talking for a while. Tara remained behind and sat nearby and waited until she gained Xander's attention as he focused on her.

"What?" he inquired.

"I'm here if you want to talk," Tara told him with a small smile. "If you don't want to talk I'll just sit here and keep you company," she added.

"Why?" Xander shot back.

"Because you need someone to help you get through this, to help you refocus before we leave," Tara answered. "Maybe you can tell me about Jenny or about how you were forced out of Sunnydale," she suggested. "Giles told me the truth about what happened between you, Buffy and Willow," she admitted. "Since then I've wanted to meet you and when we bumped into you here there wasn't time to talk because of the zombies, but now we have time," she continued.

Xander leaned back against the wall and tried to figure out what to say. He didn't even notice that without trying Tara had distracted him from the pain and loss of Jenny for the time being.  
16\. Chapter 16  
Chapter 16

(Flashback, Sunnydale)

Xander watched silently as Buffy worked herself into a frenzy. She was pacing back and forth while yelling madly about how much she hated them all and never wanted to see them again. Jenny looked mad as hell but, held her tongue for now. He could almost think this was all a nightmare and soon he would awake to find everything back to normal. But this was very real. This was the end for him and Jenny in Sunnydale. The way Willow was nodding to everything Buffy was saying made him feel sick. What a sheep she had become, she would never be anything more now than Buffy's ass licker he thought savagely. Giles at least looked unsure of what his charge was doing, but he was still allowing it to happen. Zabuto and Kendra shook their heads in disgust at the behavior of the blond haired slayer which confirmed she had learned nothing from her mistakes.

"Now get out of my town and never come back," Buffy finally finished glaring at them and they could all see she wanted nothing more than to attack them physically as well if she could have.

"Now just wait a damn minute," Xander spat back at this last bit. "This is not your town you blond haired bitch. I was born and raised here," he reminded her. "My family has been living here for three generations and you've only been here for a year and a half so you have no right to say I can never come back," he told her. "If I want to come back I damn well will and there is nothing you can do to stop me," he stated with a glare of his own.

"What you say maybe correct Xander, but given the bad feelings between you all I think it might be wise if you did stay away," Giles tried to intervene in what he believed would be a logical statement. "You don't get on with your family and thus have nothing to bring you back here, correct?" he inquired.

"My family problems have nothing to do with you Giles, you spineless idiot," Xander growled. "I can't believe you've allowed yourself to be led around by this insane idiot. One day I think your failure to keep her in check is going to get you killed just like it killed Jenny and me," he swore. "I will go where I damn well please, got it?" he snapped.

"Be reasonable Xander, you've done this to yourself," Willow cut in with a glare of her own. "You've brought Kendra and her watcher her to ensure Buffy killed Angel, knowing it would devastate her. Did you expect her to do forgive you afterwards?" she asked sarcastically as Oz shook his head in an attempt to keep her from interfering which she ignored.

"I brought them here to help save lives Willow, as that was the reason we got involved with her in the first place. Remember that or has your brain been stuck so far up Buffy's ass you no longer know how to think properly?" Xander shot back, making Willow flush in anger. Xander shook his head unable to believe her stupidity in this matter. "It was damn clear none of you were going to make her do her duty and ensure no one else died so I did what you couldn't, live with it," he stated.

"We have no choice but to live with it, but on that note you must now live with the consequences of your choice Xander," Giles told him as he stopped Buffy from making a lunge at Xander. "I think it best that you give Sunnydale a wide berth for a while and if you do choose to come back then I suggest you stay out of our way," he suggested.

"Oh I don't think you have to worry about that Rupert," Jenny growled, finally having lost all patience with them. "The idea that we would want to interact with you sheep after all this is insane. You've shown that you care more about following Buffy whims than you do with protecting lives," she added. "Only Cordelia remembered why we were here, only she didn't follow you and for that she has my thanks," she went on. "The rest of you can burn in hell. If we ever do come back here and we do meet and you decide to attack us Buffy, believe me our revenge will be swift and deadly, I so swear," she finished and both watchers felt the powerful magic Jenny had just evoked.

"That is enough," Zabuto finally got involved. "Miss Summers, you have no right to try and bar Mr. Harris or Miss Calendar from going anywhere and you know that," he reminded her. "If they come back and you attack them then you know what will happen to you and more to the point those who allow you to do such a thing. Is that clear?" he demanded to know to which she slowly nodded, although her eyes bore nothing but hatred as she glared at him. He simply ignored her gaze. "Now maybe for a short time it would be best if you left, but more for you own well being than theirs, as you are now both Immortals and you need to find teachers," he said turning to Xander and Jenny who were about to argue, but quickly went silent at the last bit.

"How do we find teachers?" Jenny inquired.

"There is a sister organization to the watchers whose sole purpose is to monitor Immortals," Zabuto explained. "The two groups do not really mix and we keep our business separate, but I do have a contact who can find you two teachers who you can learn from and more importantly trust not to try and take your heads," he added with a small smile. "One thing you must realize is that quite a lot of Immortals want nothing more than to kill other Immortals and claim their quickening to increase their own power," he warned them. "It is a very dangerous world you are about to enter and I wish you all the luck in the world," he finished.

"Very well," Xander said after releasing a sigh. "If you can give us some names and addresses for some teachers we'll leave, for now at least," he agreed. "There is nothing here for us now anyway," he admitted. Zabuto nodded and moved into the office to use the phone.

"I can't believe you are all so dumb as to allow Buffy to kick them out," Cordelia finally exploded. "It is quite clear all you are going to be doing from now on is kissing blondies ass, so consider this my quitting. I can't trust you to keep me and others safe any longer and so I'll do it myself," she spat, before moving to actually hug Xander, surprising him and earning a glare from Buffy and especially Willow. "You take care Xander and make sure if you do come back to look me up," she stated before she left the library.

"You know I used to find her so very annoying, but I think I like that girl," Jenny said with a smile as she glanced at Xander's shocked look before it melted into a smile of his own.

A few minutes later Zabuto returned with the name and addresses of two of the oldest Immortals still living, men who could be trusted to ensure they would survive at least for as long as they could keep their heads. After a quick hand shake and a hug from Kendra, Jenny left to begin packing for their trip to New York. Xander did the same, but paused at the door to glance back for a final time before he left as well.

+I+

(Rockville, Indiana, now)

Tara listened as Xander explained that last bitter argument that forever forced him to break from his former friends. She could hear the anger that still lingered within him and it was clear to her that he hadn't gotten over what had gone down. What she found interesting was the complete stupidity the rest of the group, bar Cordelia Chase, had shown. It made her view Willow, Oz and even Giles in a new light, granted Giles had realized his errors in the end, but still she found it hard to believe he could make such mistakes.

"I never thought when I first made friends with Buffy that things would turn out like that," Xander said, regaining her attention. "That last argument was the worst I've ever had with anyone, so much bitterness and anger was let loose and yet it caught me by surprise by how much was inside me," he admitted with a faraway look in his eyes. "Willow was almost a different person. I sometimes wish Buffy had never come to Sunnydale. Maybe if it had been someone else things would not have gone so bad." he told her as he glanced at her- "Maybe if someone else had been the Slayer, they'd have done things right and killed Angel when he first showed himself or at least staked his undead ass when he turned to Angelus." he went on in a bitter tone.

"You don't know what would have been, but more than likely you might be more right than you know," Tara finally told him. "It seems I never knew the real her. I trusted her to do what was right and in the best interest of the people, but clearly where her wants and desires were concerned that is not the case," she stated with a shake of her head. "The fact Willow and the others always allowed her to do what she wanted has finally caught up with them. Had they kept her more in check maybe she would not be dead," she suggested.

"She won't see it that way," Xander told her bluntly. "Willow will blame this on me and Jenny, no matter that she is now dead as well," he added and had to do everything he could to keep his emotions in check as he spoke her name.

The pain of her loss was like a living thing inside his chest, ripping and tearing everything within in its grief. A part of him wanted to die and rejoin her side, but he knew the others were right. Jenny would want him to survive for as long as he could. He let his head lean against the wall as he tried to regain some semblance of control.

"I know what it is like to lose someone you love," Tara admitted after a short silence and made him turn to look at her and take note of her sad look as she stared at something only she could see. "I lost my mother when I was very young, her death left me in the care of the rest of my family, who were not nice people, especially my brother," she continued her tone now dark and her eyes watered as she fought her own internal battle. "I know how good the idea of dying and rejoining them sounds, but they'd never want us to take such an easy way out," she told him as she locked her gaze on him. "They'd want us to go on, to live for them and to hold the love they felt for us within us until it is time for us to finally be reunited," she stated as she reached out and took his hand in hers. "Do you understand?" she asked.

Xander wanted to deny what she said, but in the end it made sense and he knew it was the truth. "Yes I understand," he finally responded. "If you let me go I swear on Jenny's memory I will not try and get myself killed. I will help get everyone out of here," he swore.

Tara smiled and nodded her head as Connor and Methos entered the room again to hear his vow, both let out sighs of relief as they had worried for their friend's life. Both knew the pain of losing a loved one, they knew the agony and the almost suicidal thoughts that followed. Being Immortal you'd think they would get used to the pain of loss, but they never did and Xander had just suffered his first great loss, which made his pain all the worse for him. Methos moved to untie him and then helped him stand up, Connor handed over his and Jenny' swords to Xander, which he had grabbed when Methos had knocked Xander out for his own good.

Xander noted the trails of Jenny's quickening still played along her blade although less brightly than before. He glanced at Connor and Methos who both shrugged just as confused by this as he was. He placed Jenny's sword into its cover within his coat before he swung his own sword.

"We are just about ready to make a break for it," Methos told him. "We are going to run all the way to the city limits and we don't stop unless we have to," he added.

"Sounds good," Xander said with a nod. "But can the survivors hold up that kind of pace for long?" he inquired.

"They'll have to," Methos shot back. "Are you going to be okay kid?" he asked finally.

"Not for a long while Methos, but maybe in time," Xander responded before trailing off and almost jumping out of his skin when he felt Tara give his hand a slight squeeze in support, before she turned and left with Xander watching her go.

"Nice girl," Connor mused as he also watched her leave. "She seemed to get through to you in a way none of the rest of us could. Thankfully your former group had someone with brains with them," he added with a small smile.

"Yeah I agree," Xander responded. "She has a way about her that makes you want to listen to her. I wouldn't have expected to find someone like her in Buffy's group," he said thoughtfully. "Still what she said helped me regain control for now. I might break down again later as having Jenny's quickening is not such a good thing right now," he admitted to them

"I don't suppose it is," Connor replied. "When I took the head of the Kurgan I also gained the memories of Ramirez and all the other Immortals he had killed," he explained. "It took me a long while to sort it all out and gain control over them, but with Ramirez it was much harder as he had been such an important person in my life," he admitted. He ran a hand through his hair as he thought back to that point in his life. "I know it can be distracting Xander and I know it is not the same thing, but try to stay in the here and now, we may need every able body before this is over," he stated.

"I will Connor," Xander promised as he followed them into the other room where everyone else was sitting.

He moved to sit next to Rebecca and Jill and said a quick apology for his angry words, both quickly forgave him as they both understood the stress and anger one felt when you lose someone you love. Tara kept an eye on him from her place next to Giles who looked somber. The loss of Buffy had clearly hit him hard and maybe the loss of Jenny just as much. She knew he once had a relationship with the woman at least somewhat. Willow would never go into much detail about it, but she guessed it must have been strong enough to hurt when she died, even if it wasn't strong enough to resist being thrown away due to his loyalty to Buffy. ‘Something he might regret these days,' she thought.

"Ok listen up," Chris spoke up as he climbed to his feet once he noted Xander seemed back in his right frame of mind. "In a few minutes we are leaving this building and run all the way to the city limits. We don't stop unless we absolutely have to. Is that clear?" he explained as he looked around.

"We are almost at the city limits so it shouldn't be a long run," Jill added as she joined Chris. "We just need you to keep it together for a little while longer," she told them as she noted a few dark looks from most of the survivors.

"And what if that damn monster finds us again?" spat one of the survivors.

"If it survived having my blade driven through its skull then I will take its damn head off," Xander growled out in response. "I know you are scared, I know you are tired, but we are so close to finally getting out of here," he snapped at the man. "Two people have already died trying to keep you people safe. I will not allow you to throw their sacrifices away so get ready to run," he stated with a glare which made the man back off.

"Nice speech," Claire said quietly as she noted the affect Xander's little talk had on the other survivors. Xander just gave her a small smile before he got ready to leave.

"How many rockets do we have left for the launchers?" Leon inquired as he moved to Chris's side.

"One," Chris responded. "Just one, if we miss we might be shit out of luck Leon," he stated to the man he knew his sister loved and who loved her.

It was no secret in the resistance how the two felt about one another, but like so many lives affected by Umbrella they never had done anything about it. He still regretted the fact his little sister had ever gotten involved in this nightmare that was his life. He had thought cutting off all contact with her had been the right call to keep her safe. Instead it had led her to come to Racoon City to search for him, at the exact moment the virus consumed the city. She had met Leon there and barely escaped with their lives. Their adventure in the doomed city had created a bond between them that had quickly evolved into love. He saw it so very clearly and he liked Leon enough that had it moved into such a relationship, he wouldn't have minded and would have given his blessing.

"Damn," Leon responded dryly. "I guess this means you'll have to not miss," he added with a small smile while trying to lighten the moment.

"Thanks Leon I kinda figured that out already," Chris shot back allowing the attempt to actually calm his nerves somewhat.

"Ok people on your feet," Barry shouted as he got up after he finished loading his beloved magnum. He reached down and helped Victoria to her feet who smiled in thanks before she readied her own weapon.

The young woman had forged a quick bond with the big man, they got on well and she was thankful for his presence. The new friendship helped keep her mind off the death of her boyfriend. She focused on staying alive and helping to get the group to safety. Barry's strong presence helped her keep moving on, even if he was old enough to be her father she viewed him as a friend.

"Remember don't stop for anything," Rebecca told them all as they prepared to exit the building. "Watch each other's back as much as possible as well," she added.

Tara moved up to Giles side as Zabuto and Kendra moved to the back of the group to help cover the rear. Willow glared at her which she ignored as best as she could. She had no time for the redhead's misplaced anger. ‘If she was not careful Willow may get herself killed as well,' Tara thought. It was pointless saying anything to her though, because she knew it would be ignored completely.

"Are you okay Giles?" she asked as she reached the watchers side and noted that he looked even worse up close than he had from where she had been sitting.

"Not really Tara," Giles admitted knowing it was pointless to lie. "Buffy's death has hit me hard and I am trying to keep myself focused just as I am sure Xander is, now that Jenny is dead," he added. "But it is so very hard," he stated as he glanced at her and noted her understanding look.

"I know but we need you to help us now," Tara replied. "Buffy would want you to live," she reminded him using the same logic she had used on Xander, although without admitting her own painful loss. "Keep that in mind and you should be okay," she stated with a smile.

Giles considered her words before nodding his head in agreement, she was correct he was sure. Buffy would want him and the others to live, and to succeed in their mission at least that is what he told himself.

"Move," Chris finally gave the order as Jill swung the door open and Barry and Leon charged out first with Methos and Connor right behind them.

Victoria led the survivors out as Jill and Rebecca followed. Chris brought up the rear carrying the rocket launcher already loaded with the last round. Xander, Zabuto, Kendra, Tara and Giles were the last to leave as the rear guard. Each knew this last leg of their journey was not going to be as easy as Chris and Jill had made it sound. More than likely it would be that much more dangerous.  
17\. Chapter 17  
Chapter 17

(Flashback, New York)

Xander and Jenny walked into the antiques shop that stood where the address they had been given by Zabuto told them to go. They both felt the sudden buzz they had been warned meant there was another Immortal nearby. Hopefully Zabuto's contact had been right and the Immortal in this shop could be trusted to train them instead of taking their heads. They soon found a man with hawkish features standing facing them with a katana pointed at them. There was another man with a sword in the shop with a more dangerous look to him. Xander couldn't identify the sword he held, but it looked sharp.

"Are you here to fight or to buy something?" the first man inquired.

"Neither actually," Xander responded as he raised his hands to show he was unarmed. "We were told we could find someone to teach us here," he explained.

The two men exchanged looks before turning back to face them with skeptical looks, clearly they did not believe them. "And who told you that?" the second man inquired.

"A contact in the watchers organization who watches Immortals, he is a friend of a watcher who looks after Slayers," Jenny answered. "We recently were killed and revived as Immortals and we know very little about our new nature except that it is not a safe thing to be and can be dangerous," she continued. "Our friend assured us whoever owns this shop could be trusted to train us and not attempt to take our heads," she stated.

"I see," the first man said with a sigh as he put his sword away. "I don't usually take students anymore. It is painful to train someone only to see them die later on," he told them as the second man put his sword away as well. "My name is Connor McLeod and this is my friend Adam. How recently did you die?" he inquired.

"Two months ago, it has taken us some time to get here," Xander answered glad they had at least put their weapons down. "Thankfully we didn't run into any other Immortals on our way, just some vampires and a demon or two," he explained.

Connor nodded his head as he knew about demons and vampires having faced them often although not recently. Adam leaned against the counter and watched.

"I don't suppose you know the name of the man who sent you here?" Connor asked to which Xander and Jenny shook their heads in the negative.

"Zabuto didn't mention his name just that he was a member of the watchers who deal with Immortals. He just gave us this address," Xander told him. "We really need your help, especially in how to learn the use of swords. Neither of us has much experience with them," he added.

Connor stared at them for a few minutes clearly noting neither of them was armed, a rookie mistake walking into a place with other Immortals without any way of defending themselves. Granted they probably wanted to make a good impression, a rare thing he thought. It had been almost twenty to thirty years since he had trained anyone, as he had said it had grown painful to train someone to the point they become a close friend only to see them die. But he supposed he couldn't let them walk out of here defenseless. They wouldn't last a few days before a head hunter found them and took both their heads.

"Very well, Adam and I will train you," Connor agreed, startling Adam who looked at him in surprise as he hadn't trained anyone for a century or two and only had been visiting Connor as he had been bored and Duncan was busy with Amanda. "I'll need the help Adam. You said you were bored didn't you? Well this should be something to do which you haven't done in a long while," he pointed out when he noticed his friend's look.

Adam glared at him for a few seconds before conceding the point and nodded his agreement. Maybe taking a student again would be fun. He glanced at the two newbies and decided they should combine their teaching so they would have more than one style to fall back on. "What are your names?" he inquired.

"I'm Alexander Harris," Xander introduced himself. "And this is my girlfriend Jenny Calendar," he added as he took Jenny's hand in his.

Adam exchanged looks with Connor at this piece of information. It was rare for Immortals to be lovers, especially being lovers before becoming Immortals. Most relationships between Immortals didn't last. Even the one between Duncan and Amanda was an on/off affair. He wondered if these two could maintain their relationship or if it would fall apart. He decided not to tell them this piece of news just yet.

"Follow me," Connor told them. "We'll talk about your pasts and how your training will go," he added as he led them to the elevator that led to his apartment upstairs. Adam quickly shut and locked the door before following them.

+IS+

(Rockville, Indiana, Now)

Xander sliced his sword right through the zombie's mid section and didn't even pause as it collapsed into two halves. He tore right into another and took its heads off with ease. On each side of him Methos and Connor used the same style to cut down the zombies blocking their escape route out of the doomed city. Time was running out for them all and more than likely this delay would alert the new Tyrant to locate them again if it had survived the earlier fight.

Chris unloaded his shotgun into another zombie blowing its legs clean of before using his berretta to put another bullet into its brain. Jill and Rebecca unloaded their last clips for their assault rifles into five more of the creatures, while Barry, Leon and Claire watched their rear while Victoria did her best to keep the other survivors together with the help of Tara and Giles. Kendra, Zabuto, Oz and Willow tried to protect their flanks in the meantime.

"Keep moving," Chris ordered. "Push forward," he shouted at Victoria and the other survivors.

Victoria nodded and did the best she could to herd the other survivors forward, but it was difficult as most of them had run out of ammo during their long run. Willow began to grow more and more angry as she unleashed her power on another zombie, she wanted out of this cursed place. She wanted to get away from Xander and the memories he invoked in her. She wanted to go somewhere she could finally mourn the loss of her friend. She could barely function due to the fact that Buffy was dead, only the need to survive kept her moving and fighting.

"Stay close Willow," Oz growled out as he noted her to begin to get further away from them.

He knew she was hurting and unfocused due to the death of Buffy and he was concerned about how she would deal with this if they made it out of here. He lurched backwards as a zombie shot out of nowhere and tried to bite him in the neck. He had no choice but to head butt it. He heard a sick wet popping noise and he saw the things nose fall off. Lifting his shotgun he blew a hole right through its mutilated face. Blood splattered everywhere, but he paid it no heed. He pushed forward and moved closer to Willow who had thankfully moved back towards him and Giles.

Xander decapitated another zombie before gutting the one behind it. Connor and Methos cut down the last three with simple, but deadly strikes to their necks. The path was clear and the survivors needed no order to run. Victoria brought up the rear with Oz, Willow and Giles. Xander remained behind as Chris and the others ran forward. He could sense something was following them and he knew deep in his heart it had to be the Tyrant that had killed Jenny. Growling low in his throat he turned and followed the others, it would strike soon he was sure.

"What is it Alex?" Connor inquired as Xander caught up to him.

"The Tyrant is coming Connor. It survived our last fight," Xander responded. "We need to split up, some of us should stay behind to deal with it, while the others keep running," he suggested.

"Are you sure it is the Tyrant, Alex?" Methos asked having heard what they had both said. "You put your sword right through its brain stem," he pointed out.

"I'm sure Methos," Xander shot back heatedly. "It's following us and it will strike soon," he assured him, "We should prepare before it takes us by surprise and kills any more of us," he advised strongly.

Connor and Methos nodded in agreement with that statement. If they were prepared they may finally be able to kill the damn monster before it took any more of them. If they ignored the threat Xander insisted was following them, then they may lose more of their group. Connor shouted ahead for the others to stop.

"What's wrong?" Jill asked as she looked warily around, they were so close now to escaping this damn place.

"Xander believes the Tyrant is following us and will attack soon," Connor answered. "He suggests we split up, some of us stay to fight it and the rest keeps running," he told them as he kept an eye on their surroundings.

"Is it even possible that it is still alive after what you did to it?" Kendra asked, not liking the idea one bit.

"Tyrants are very hard to kill Kendra," Claire responded with a dark look in her eyes that was echoed in Leon's, Chris's, Jill's, Rebecca's and Barry's.

Each of them had fought more than one Tyrant since they each got involved in Umbrella's secrets. They had survived each time by the skin of their teeth. The Tyrants were the ultimate manifestation of the T-virus, their resilience and strength was almost unstoppable,

"Their regeneration powers are almost without limit," Jill said with a shiver as she remembered the Nemesis Tyrant that had almost killed her when she was trying to escape Racoon city.

"If it is out there then I suggest we enact Xander's plan," Rebecca said before anyone else could say anything. "The question is who goes with the survivors and who stays to fight?" she added, looking at each of her friends in turn.

"I'll stay," Xander stated immediately, intent on making sure the Tyrant was destroyed this time and Jenny's death was avenged.

Leon, Chris, Jill, Tara, Kendra and Methos all agreed to stay as well, the survivors watched as the people who had rescued them said their goodbyes before they split up. Giles hesitated and glanced back at Tara who gave him a reassuring smile. He didn't want to leave the young woman behind, but he was out of ammo and he doubted he would be any use against the monster that hunted them.

Claire began to run before stopping again. She felt a terrible fear reaching into her heart and she found herself turning to look back at Leon who's gaze was locked right on her and she could see the same fear in his eyes. She ran back to him and pulled him into a hug which he returned fiercely, as they pulled away she could hold herself back no longer and pulled him into a deep longing kiss. Chris smirked and shook his head before he turned serious and hoped that they all came through this alive. He didn't want to see his sister devastated by Leon's death. Jill and Rebecca giggled having been expecting Claire to eventually give into her love for Leon. Barry just chuckled and wished he could hold his wife.

Claire finally pulled back and stared into Leon's eyes. "Please don't get killed," she whispered before she forced herself to take off with Rebecca who decided not to tease her.

Leon glanced at Chris who was still smiling although he saw worry in his eyes as well. "Shut up," he muttered not willing to be teased right now. 

"Good luck," Zabuto said before he began to run as well- "Be careful Kendra," he shouted back.

Barry nodded in agreement with the statement before he took off as well. He had wanted to stay as well, but the fact he had a family waiting for him stayed his hand, he would not take foolish risks. He knew he could die during this fight against Umbrella. He and his family were prepared for that, but he would not throw his life away if he could help it.

Xander turned back to face the way they had come and readied himself for the fight to come. Chris checked the rocket launcher and the one remaining shot they had which was the only hope they had of killing the blasted thing. Leon reloaded his shotgun with his last rounds and then did the same to his berretta. Kendra and Jill did the same while Methos stepped forward to stand by Xander's side with his own sword at the ready. Tara closed her eyes and forced all fear and worry from her mind. She used some exercises her mother used to teach her before she died to focus herself for the fight ahead.

"Do we have a plan?" Leon inquired as he looked at the others.

"Once it shows up we attack it on mass," Xander responded without taking his eyes off the way it had come. "We bring it down anyway we can and then Chris sends it straight to hell with the last rocket," he stated with a blank look.

"Sounds good," Chris said, wondering if Xander had actually thought about that plan or if he had just come up with it on the spur of the moment.

"If you have a better one than please speak up," Xander shot back only half focused on his friends.

"Aim for the head," Jill spoke up. "Hopefully that will be its weakest point, then once it is down Chris can use the rocket launcher to hit it right at its already weakened head," she suggested.

A sudden thundering noise alerted all of them that it was coming and it was coming fast. Xander swung his sword around before gripping it tightly as did Methos. The Tyrant finally appeared from the dark like a nightmare, but they all knew they would not be waking up as this was reality.

"Here we go," Methos muttered as he prepared to strike.  
18\. Chapter 18  
Chapter 18

The Tyrant charged headlong at them with its fists raised, it was clear it intended to pulverize them all. Tara unleashed her attack first and let a stream of lightning bolts shot out of her fingers and struck the creature in the chest which actually staggered it.

This was the signal for the others to open fire. Xander and Methos shot forward and began to cut into its legs, hoping to bring it down that way. The Tyrant howled in pain, but kept moving. It swung sideways and sent Methos flying into the wall of a house. He slumped down winded, while Xander continued to strike at its legs as quickly as he could before he too was sent flying.

Jill growled as the Tyrant got closer and she knew they were all about to run out of ammo. This was going to be close she thought. Leon was forced to dive out of the way as the monster tried to grab him. He hit the pavement and rolled away before firing his last two rounds into the things eyes. The Tyrant reared back as one of the bullets pierced its right eye. Jill was the next one to run dry. Methos pushed himself back up and attacked again just in time to distract the Tyrant from trying to kill Jill as she backed away.

"Keep shooting," Chris ordered as he fired his last shotgun round before dropping it and pulling his berretta and opening fire again, but he soon ran out of rounds for that as well. He growled in frustration before moving to take up the rocket launcher.

Xander rushed back into the fray and slammed his sword right into the Tyrants legs, the thing roared and began to sway. Tara unleashed three more blasts of lightening before the drain became too much for her to handle. Each blast had been larger than normal and had taken far more energy from her.

Kendra managed to unload her last two shots into the things left eye and so completely blinded it. They were all dry now and had nothing else to use. Tara shuddered and knew what she had to do and so she forced one last blast right into the center of the Tyrants head. It reared back as blood erupted out of its damaged flesh before it began collapsing.

Tara eyes rolled up in her head and she began to collapse as well, but Leon luckily managed to catch her. Chris moved to get a clear shot at the things head, while the others all got out of the way. Once he had a good shot he fired and they all watched as the Tyrants head and most of its upper body exploded in blood and gore. Chris dropped the smoking rocket launcher in relief that the shot had hit the right spot. He pulled back to where the others still stood.

"Is Tara okay?" Jill inquired as she breathed deeply a few times, thankful the Tyrant had finally been killed.

"Yeah her pulse is good," Leon replied with a relived smile as Xander walked back to the Tyrant's body and retrieved his sword.

"Let's get the fuck out of here before anything else catches up to us," Methos suggested.

The others agreed and they all turned and followed the path the others had gone. Xander and Methos kept their swords out just in case more zombies got close to them. A few minutes after they had left, a team of soldiers appeared wearing black tactical gear. They were armed heavily with state of the art weapons and on each of their shoulder they wore shoulder cameras, which were clearly sending a signal of the events to somewhere else.

"They're gone sir and the advanced Tyrant was beaten," the lead soldier reported over his com device.

"So I saw Major," a sinister voice answered his statement. "It was an interesting fight to watch along with the other fights since we began to follow them," the voice continued.

"Sir, may I inquire why you did not allow us to kill them?" the soldier asked.

A harsh chuckle came back over the line. "All things come to those who wait Major. I have my own scores to settle with my former colleagues," the voice answered. "Now wasn't the time and we gathered a lot of new data that should help us destroy not only Umbrella, but other rival companies as well," the voice stated. "I want you to bring the Tyrant corpse back with you as well as the corpse of the female member of the rebels who died. Make sure you pick up her head as well," the voice commanded, lacking any warmth and making even the hardened soldier shiver. "You have an hour and a half to pick up both and escape the city, before a nuclear device is dropped to ensure the infection does not spread any further so I suggest you don't delay," the voice told them before it went silent.

"You heard the boss, pick the corpse up and put it in the damn truck," the Major ordered. "Sharp, take the jeep with Briggs and Williams and go and retrieve the female corpse and her head," he continued. "And be quick. I want to be out of here within a half hour," he added.

+IS+

(Unknown Location)

In a darkened control room with multiple monitors which showed the receiving signals from the shoulder cameras of the soldiers, a man sat watching silently. His face was mostly hidden in the shadows as the lights within the room were out and the only light came from the monitors he was watching. They showed the man was wearing dark shades and the man had blond hair which was slicked back, every few seconds his eyes would flash red in the dark tinged glasses.

"Yes soon I will deal with my former colleagues and finally I will kill Redfield and the rest of the S.T.A.R.S survivors," the man muttered to himself as a smirk graced his features as he stood up. "Their new allies will fall as well and the corpses I want should open up a whole new realm of possibilities to destroy them all," he stated as his smile grew bigger and the lights turned on to reveal the figure was Albert Wesker, formerly Captain of the Racoon S.T.A.R.S and Umbrella spy.

Wesker turned and left the control room, wondering what Redfield would do if he knew that he was still alive. Their last encounter in the Arctic had convinced the man he was dead. His second defeat at the hands of Redfield and his sister gulled him, just like Valentine, Burton and Chambers he would have his revenge on all of them.

He would bathe in their blood, and destroy anyone who aided them. Once they were all dead he would begin his plan to conquer first America and then the world. Using the creatures created by the T and G viruses he would build an army and lay waste to anyone who opposed him. All his scientists had to do was to find a way to control them.

+IS+

(Outside Rockville)

Claire let out a relieved smile as Leon finally appeared carrying Tara in his arms. When Jill and the others followed she almost broke down in tears, especially when she saw her brother safe and sound as well. Connor let out a relieved sigh as well before moving to greet Xander and Methos. They could hear the sounds of the choppers coming in which Giles and Zabuto had called in. They were the rescue choppers the council had swore they would have on hand. Barry had managed to contact the chopper he and his friends had arrived on and it too was coming back, having landed nearby to wait for them.

"You made it," Zabuto said as he greeted his charge relieved beyond words that she had made it and had not met the same fate as the fallen Buffy Summers.

"Yeah we killed it," Xander told them as he looked up into the sky to see the approaching choppers. "Jenny and Buffy have been avenged," he stated, even if the second Tyrant had not been the same one as the one that had actually killed Buffy.

Willow glared at Xander's back as he spoke, while Oz did his best to comfort her. Giles just nodded his head as he knelt down to check on Tara who was beginning to wake up, but was clearly quite weak at the moment.

"We have to get out of here now," Barry told them all. "The government has begun a countdown to sterilize the city. The choppers will take us to a safe distance before dropping off the survivors," he added.

"What then?" Victoria inquired "What are we supposed to do?" she added with a frown.

"Yeah what are we supposed to do? All of our families are dead," another survivor growled. "How are we supposed to deal with what happened?" he demanded to know.

Chris sighed as he had heard those questions many times before. Hell there was a time when he and the others had been the ones asking them. He glanced at Jill who seemed to be thinking the same thing. He noted Leon holding Claire tightly as the choppers began to land. Another mission was over and again they had managed to rescue only a handful of survivors, but he thought that was better than none at all.

Rebecca did her best to answer the survivors' questions, but most of them were still too angry to listen. She finally gave up and moved over to stand by Xander who was looking back towards the city.

"Are you okay Xander?" Rebecca asked as she noted his unfocused gaze.

"Not by a long shot," Xander replied honestly. "And maybe not for a long time to come," he added with a shake of his head.

"I know it is hard right now Alex, but it will get better in time," Rebecca told him as carefully as she could as she didn't want to anger him. "Time heals all wounds," she stated, making Methos and Connor who were close by snort and shake their heads.

That may be true for ordinary people, but for Immortals time never healed wounds. It just kept reopening them and they could never escape their memories until the moment their heads were taken from their bodies. Finally the choppers landed and the survivors quickly began to board them. Victoria however refused and insisted on going with Barry and the other S.T.A.R.S members.

She wanted to join the resistance to Umbrella and help them bring the company down. She had lost her family as well as her boyfriend and she wanted to ensure it didn't happen to other people. Barry tried to talk her out of it, but finally relented as it became clear that she was not to be dissuaded.

"Will you come with us Xander?" Rebecca asked. "I still want to check your blood for antibodies. Hopefully your quickening may help us actually create a true antivirus," she stated hopefully. Connor and Methos turned to watch what their friend would decide.

"Yes I'll come with you for a while," Xander said after a few minutes. "There are too many memories where I was," he added almost to low for her to hear.

"Are you sure about this Xander?" Connor asked, even though he wasn't surprised by his friend's choice.

"I'm sure Connor, I need some time to myself away from New York," Xander responded, as he shook his hand before doing the same with Methos. "I'll keep in touch and visit in time," he assured them. Connor nodded his head before turning and moving to board one of the choppers. Methos clapped Xander on the shoulder before following.

Tara weakly moved over with Giles' help intent on saying goodbye to her new friend. She was hoping to get him to promise to visit her in Sunnydale when he was ready. Willow watched with a dark look in her eyes as Tara actually had the nerve to hug Xander goodbye. Whatever she was saying seemed to surprise Xander, but she couldn't hear a word of it. She turned away from the sight. Buffy, had she still been alive, would be cursing Tara right now.

Tara boarded the chopper with Giles, but kept her eyes pinned on Xander as he boarded the S.T.A.R.S chopper. Xander stared back, still trying to decide what he would do about her request to visit her in Sunnydale. That place held just as many memories for him as New York did, but something about Tara made him want to visit her. She had a gentle nature he had never seen before in a person, not even Jenny. As the choppers lifted off he said a silent goodbye to his lover. He felt Jill and Rebecca lay their heads on his shoulders, while Claire sunk into Leon's embrace just glad that they had survived once more.

In the other chopper Giles picked up the radio and began to dictate a report which included the death of Buffy Summers in the line of duty. He also included Jenny Calendars death in it.

+IS+

(Sunnydale Hospital, a week later)

Giles watched as the council chanted. The last week had been very trying and since he had returned to Sunnydale he had been in meeting after meeting with Travers and the rest of the council. Each had been trying to decide what to do now that Buffy was dead and finally the decision was made to revive Faith. This was a controversial move, but one he supported. Faith deserved a second chance and maybe with Buffy gone she might find her way.

Until she was back up to speed Kendra and Zabuto would remain in Sunnydale to help protect the Hellmouth. Willow wasn't happy by this move, but had promised to try and work with the dark haired slayer should the ritual to awaken her work. Oz had not said anything on the matter and only Tara didn't seem to really mind, but then she had not been here when Faith had first arrived in Sunnydale. Finally the council finished their chant and the magic they had conjured shot into Faith's comatose body. Everyone watched closely as Faith's eyes shot open after a minute.

The End:

(Authors Notes: This is where this story ends, but I am already planning a sequel which I will begin hopefully in next couple of months. I thank everyone who reviewed this story)


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